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PLATE I 


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A lacquer Cabinet of Oriental workmanship mounted on English carved wood and silvered 


stand. Circa 1675. In the collection of Sir William Plender, G.B.E. 


THE PRESENT-DAY CONDITION AND VALUE 

AND THE METHODS OF THE FURNITURE- 

FAKER IN PRODUCING SPURIOUS PIECES 
BY 


R. W. SYMONDS 
ILLUSTRATED WITH SIXTY-FIVE EXAMPLES 
OF EXCEPTIONAL INTEREST TO COLLECTORS 
é STUDENTS, NONE OF WHICH HAS BEEN 
HITHERTO REPRODUCED. WITH A FOREWORD BY 


PERCIVAL D. GRIFFITHS 


NEW YORK 
ROBERT M. McBRIDE ® CO. 


1923 


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Printed in Great | 
The Mayflower Press, Plymouth, William Brendon & Son, Ltd. 


FOREWORD 


O those who are interested in collecting old English furniture, 
this book will prove of very real assistance. As a collector, 
myself, I find that Mr. Symonds’ chapters open up a new 
vista of absorbing interest. 

Much has been written of the various periods when new 
styles were conceived and new materials introduced, and the approximate 
dates when these changes took place have been carefully ascertained and 
accurately noted. 

Mr. Macquoid’s History of English Furniture, published at a time when 
research by other authors had not carried us very far, supplied students 
with much interesting and valuable information. That, however, was 
some twenty years ago, and other writers have since added to our store 
of knowledge of the subject. 

Few, however, have endeavoured to explain the differences between 
the genuine piece and the forgery, or copy. Still fewer references, if indeed 
any, have been made to the “ condition ” in which it is desirable to find 
the genuine example, or when it is advisable to decline the acquisition of 
it altogether. 

Old English Walnut and Lacquer Furniture is particularly valuable in 
that it directs attention to these very material matters which have been 
little dealt with by previous writers. From the collector’s point of view 
they are of immense value. Of even greater value is the knowledge of how 
the copies, honest or fraudulent, are made ; and what Mr. Symonds tells 
on this subject can only have been learned as the result of infinite pains. 

It may be argued that all these details about spurious pieces are arming 
the faker for renewed activity; but some defence is necessary for the 
collector, and that defence Mr. Symonds supplies. Until the time comes 


when a fraudulent copy has all the attributes of the original [séc] it is just 
Vv 


vi OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


as well that the collector should be warned against the dangers that beset 
his path. 

The knowledge to be obtained from the pages of this book concerning 
design, materials, and the manner and method of construction, will materi- 
ally assist every collector to judge for himself and to appreciate the qualities 
and charm of old English furniture. It should do more by developing a 
discriminating taste for what is most attractive. Thus it will add tenfold 
to the pleasures of a very fascinating and instructive hobby. 


PERCIVAL D. GRIFFITHS, F.S.A. 


August, 1922 


CONTENTS 


FOREWORD ! : : : : : Vv 
CHAPTER 
I. WALNUT FURNITURE, 1660-1745 . ; ils, 
II. QUALITY AND WORKMANSHIP ras 
III. Spurtous WALNUT FURNITURE . : : a 35 
TV. Stuart WALNUT FURNITURE, 1660-1702 : 7; 
V. MARQUETRY FURNITURE, 1670-1720. : : i ts, 


VI. QUEEN ANNE AND GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE, 1702-1745 117 
VII. Lacquer FURNITURE, 1660-1730 . : ; ; : . 147 


INDEX ; é : . . : : ° ee yg 


PLATE 


II. 


III. 


IV, 


VI. 


VII. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


A lacquer Cabinet of Oriental workmanship mounted on English carved wood 
and silvered stand, circa 1675. In the collection of Sir William Plender, 


G.B.E. e e o . ° e e e . e . Frontispiece 
Facing Page 


(a) A walnut arm-chair, circa 1660. (The turned-back stretcher is not original.) 
In the collection of Cecil Millar, Esq. 
(6) A walnut arm-chair, circa 1665. In the collection of Sir John Prestige 


(a) A walnut chair of unusual and elaborate design, probably of Dutch work- 
manship, circa 1685. In the collection of J. Thursby Pelham, Esq. 

(6) A tall walnut child’s chair, circa 1667. In the collection of Sir John 
Prestige 

(c) A walnut chair, circa 1675. In the collection of M. Harris, Esq. 


(a) A walnut chair, probably Dutch, circa 1695. In the collection of J. Thursby 
Pelham, Esq. 

(6) A beech arm-chair painted black, circa 1685. In the collection of Frank 
Partridge, Esq. 

(c) A walnut chair with finely carved splats in back and serpentine stretcher, 
circa 1685. In the collection of Patrick Hastings, Esq., K.C. 


(a) A French walnut child’s chair with upholstered seat and cane panel in back, 
circa 1685. (This foreign chair shows how closely the English chairs at this 
period were copied from the foreign models.) 

(6) A walnut nursing chair, circa 1670 

(c) A walnut child’s arm-chair, circa 1685 

(d) A walnut child’s arm-chair with upholstered back and seat, circa 1730 

The above chairs are in the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


(a) A walnut chair in the style of Daniel Marot, circa 1695. In the collection 
of M. Harris, Esq. 

(6) A walnut chair with curved hooped back and central splat, circa 1700. 
In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 

(c) A walnut chair, circa 1685. In the collection of J. Thursby Pelham, Esq. . 


(a) A walnut stool with upholstered seat, circa 1680. In the collection of 
J. Thursby Pelham, Esq. 

(5) A walnut stool with upholstered seat and serpentine stretcher, circa 1690. 
In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 

(c) A beech stool, painted black, with upholstered seat, circa 1680. In the 
collection of J. Thursby Pelham, Esq. : 


1X 


28 


32 


36 


40 


44 


48 


OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


Facing Page 


PLATE 


VIII. 


IX. 


XI. 


XI. 


XIII. 


XIV. 


XV. 


(a)"A stand with octagonal top overlaid with walnut veneer ; stem and tripod 
base of pear wood, circa 1675. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, 
Esq. 

(6) A walnut tripod stand with tapered stem and scroll feet, circa 1695. In the 
collection of Sir William Plender, G.B.E. 

(c) An oblong tablet with oyster shell parquetry top decorated with lines of box 
wood in geometrical design. ‘Turned and twisted walnut legs connected by 
stretchers, circa 1675. In the collection of M. Harris, Esq. 


(2) A walnut gate-legged table, circa 1690. In the collection of J. Thursby 
Pelham, Esq. 

(6) A walnut gate-legged table with octagonal top decorated with bands of 
herring-bone inlay, legs and under framing of turned baluster design, circa 
1680. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


A cabinet on stand decorated with floral marquetry of various coloured woods 
and ivory, circa 1675. (The two centre back legs of the stand are not original.) 
In the collection of M. Harris, Esq. : 


A cabinet or wardrobe of architectural design decorated with floral marquetry 
of various coloured woods, circa 1680. (This piece is said to have been made 
for James II when Duke of York.) In the collection of M. Harris, Esq. 


A writing-cabinet with fall-down front, decorated with floral marquetry of 
coloured woods, circa 1695. (The mounts are not original.) In the collection 
of M. Harris, Esq. 


Afmirror in frame with hood, decorated with floral design marquetry in various 
colour and stained woods. ‘The cross-banded mouldings to the frame are of 
olive wood, circa 1680. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


A writing-table with folding top, decorated with seaweed marquetry in panels. 
The two front centre legs swing forward to support the hinged leaf of the top, 
circa 1695. In the collection of Sir William Plender, G.B.E. d 


(a)'.A long-case clock with carcase of oak veneered with ebony and decorated with 
panels. Eight-day striking movement by Ahasuerus Fromenteel, with bolt- 
and-shutter maintaining power and crown-wheel escapement with short bob 
pendulum. Dial, 8} ins., with silver hour circle. Height, 6 ft. 5 ins.: circa 
1670. 

(5) A long-case clock with carcase of oak veneered with oyster-shell parquetry, 
inlaid with stars. Eight-day striking movement by Thomas Tompion, with 
bolt-and-shutter maintaining power. Dial, roins.square. Height, 6 ft. 6 ins. : 
circa 1675 

(c) A long-case clock with carcase of oak veneered with ebony and decorated 
with panels. Mounts of brass, water gilt. Month movement by Joseph 
Knibb. The striking is on two bells, according to Roman notation. Silver 
skeleton hour and second circles with each minute number. Dial, 10 ins. 
square. Height, 6 ft. 11 ins.: civca 1695. 

The above clocks are in the collection of S. E. Prestige, Esq. . ‘ 


52 


58 


62 


66 


72 


78 


84 


88 


PLATE 


XVI. 


XVII. 


XVIII. 


XIX. 


XX. 


XXI. 


XXII. 


XXITI, 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Xl 


Facing Page 


(a), A long-case clock with carcase of oak, decorated with floral marquetry of 
various coloured woods in panels. Month striking movement by Phillip 
Corderoy. Dial, 104 ins. square. Height, 7 ft. 6 ins.: circa 1685. In the 
collection of Sir John Prestige 

(b) A long-case clock with carcase of oak, decorated with arabesque marquetry 
Eight-day striking movement by Jeremiah Newbrough. Dial, 11 ins. square. 
Height, 6 ft. 10 ins.: circa 1705. In the collection of S. E. Prestige, Esq. 

(c) A long-case clock with carcase of oak overlaid with straight-cut walnut 
veneer. Eight-day striking movement by Benj. Gray and Just. Vulliamy. 
Dial, 12 ins. square. Height, 7-ft. 7 ins.: circa 1750. In the collection of 
S. E. Prestige, Esq. ‘ : ‘ 


(a) A walnut stool, circa 1715. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths 

(6) A walnut stool, circa 1735. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths 

(c) A circular walnut stool, circa 1695. In the collection of Sir William 
Pender, G.B.E. 

(d) An oval walnut stool, circa 1715. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths 


(a) A walnut barber’s chair with all four legs cabriole, and knee of front leg 
decorated with shell, c¢rca 1720. In the collection of Sir Wm. Plender, G.B.E. 

(6), A winged arm-chair with walnut cabriole legs upholstered in its original gros 
point needlework covering, circa 1715. (The back of this chair is made to 
raise and lower by means of a ratchet.) In the collection of Percival D. 
Griffiths, Esq. 


(a) A walnut chair with back and seat rail overlaid with burr walnut veneer 
and with unusual moulded seat rail and carved apron piece, circa 1725. In 
the collection of C. D. Rotch, Esq. 

(6) A walnut arm-chair, with back and seat rail overlaid with burr walnut 
veneer, on to which has been applied carved decoration in low relief, circa 
1725. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


(a) A walnut arm-chair with upholstered seat and back, covered with gros and 
petit point needlework, circa 1735. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, 
Esq. 

(b) A walnut writing-chair upholstered with the original gros and petit point 
needlework covering, circa 1720. In the collection of Frank Partridge, Esq. 


A walnut settee with the rare feature of masks decorating the seat rail, circa 
1715. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. ‘ . ‘ é 


A two-chair-back walnut settee. Front legs cabriole, and terminating in lion- 
paw feet, circa 1735. In the collection of M. Harris, Esq. . ‘ ‘ 


(a) A two-chair-back walnut settee. Arms terminating in eagle’s heads, circa 
1715. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 

(5) A walnut side table with legs of unusual design, circa 1720. In the collection 
of M. Harris, Esq. ‘ ; : 


g2 


96 


100 


104 


108 


112 


114 


118 


xii OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE 


XXIV. 


XXV. 


XXVI. 


XXVIT. 


XXVIII. 


XXXII. 


XXXITI. 


XXXIV 


Facing Page 


A bureau-bookcase overlaid with burr walnut veneer with the unusual feature 
of the doors in upper part being glazed with bevelled glass. The lower part 
is fitted with knee-hole and cupboard instead of the usual drawers, circa 
1725. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


A narrow bureau writing-cabinet of very unusual design overlaid with burr 
walnut veneer, supported on short cabriole legs, ending in claw and ball feet. 
The carved enrichment to the cornice and pediment and the capitals of 
the pilasters are of limewood and gilt. The door panel is fitted with a 
bevelled mirror plate, circa 1735. (This piece is of exceptional quality and 
in very fine preservation. The carcase is made of English oak and the 
drawer linings are of walnut wood. This latter feature is very unusual and 
is but seldom found in large drawers of walnut pieces, although it will be 
met with in the small drawers of toilet mirrors, etc.) In the collection of 
Capt. W. F. Dickinson 


The interior of the top part and bureau of the writing-cabinet illustrated, 
Plate XXV. 


(a) A bureau overlaid with walnut veneer supported on turned legs with serpen- 
tine stretcher, circa 1685. In the collection of Robert Frank, Esq. 

(6) A bureau overlaid with burr walnut veneer supported on turned and 
tapered legs, circa 1710 


(a) A bureau overlaid with burr walnut veneer on cabriole legs ending in club 
feet, circa 1735. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq 

(6) A walnut tripod table with legs terminating in lion-paw feet, circa 1735. 
In the collection of Capt. W. F. Dickinson 


A large walnut, double-sided, pedestal writing-table, circa 1730. In the 
collection of Sir John Prestige ; 


A bookcase veneered with walnut, circa 1725. In the collection of Sir John 
Prestige 


(a) A walnut circular-top card table, supported on turned and tapered legs 
connected by stretchers, circa 1700. In the collection of J. Thursby Pelham, 
Esq. 

(6) A walnut card table with the knees of cabriole legs decorated with eagle’s 
heads, circa 1725. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


A walnut card table with lion masks decorating knees of legs. Front of table 
serpentine in shape, circa 1735. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, 
Esq. ; : ‘ : 

A chest-with-drawers on stand overlaid with walnut veneer. Height, 5 ft. 9 ins., 
circa 1705. In the collection of Mrs. T. D. Wilson . : ; : 


(a) A knee-hole pedestal dressing-table overlaid with walnut veneer, circa 1735. 
In the collection of Patrick Hastings, Esq., K.C. 

(b) A dressing-table on cabriole legs terminating in claw and ball feet, circa 
1730. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


122 


126 


128 


132 


144 


150 


154 


PLATE 


XXXV. 


XXXVI. 


XXXVI. 


XXXVIII. 


XXXIX. 


XL. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Xili 


Facing Page 


(a) A walnut cheval fire-screen with octagonal panel of petit point needlework 
with gros point border, circa 1725. In the collection of Frank Partridge, 
Esq. 

(5) A walnut tripod pole fire-screen with panel of petit point needlework, 
circa 1730. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


(a) A knee-hole secretaire overlaid with burr walnut veneer, circa 1700. 
(The original bracket-feet of this piece are missing.) In the collection of 
C. H. F. Kinderman, Esq. 

(6) A knee-hole pedestal dressing-table, of Oriental workmanship, decorated 
with black and gold lacquer, circa 1725. (The handles of this piece are 
not original.) In the collection of Geoffrey D. Hobson, Esq. 


A cabinet decorated with English red and gold lacquer on carved wood and 
silvered stand, circa 1685. In the collection of Frank Partridge, Esq 


A bureau writing-cabinet decorated with English green and gold lacquer with 
bevelled mirror plates in doors surmounted by double-domed top, circa 1715. 
In the collection of Frank Partridge, Esq. 


A bureau writing-cabinet of Oriental workmanship, decorated with black and 
gold lacquer, circa 1730. In the collection of Sir William Plender, G.B.E. 


(a) A bracket clock in case, overlaid with burr walnut veneer ; movement by 
William Webster, Exchange Alley, London, circa 1730. In the collection of 
Sir John Prestige 

(b) A bracket clock in case, decorated with English green and gold lacquer, 
with musical movement by Simon de Charmes, London, circa 1725. In 
the collection of Sir William Plender, G.B.E. 


160 


162 


164 


166 


170 


OLD ENGLISH WALNUT 
& LACQUER FURNITURE 


OLD ENGLISH WALNUT 
& LACQUER FURNITURE 


CHAPTER I 


WALNUT FURNITURE 
1660-1745 


HE high estimation in which old English walnut furniture is 
held at the present time is undoubtedly due to the appre- 
ciation of its artistic design and form, the natural beauty of the 
walnut wood with its fine figure and grain, and the beautiful 
mellow colour and patina which it has acquired by age. It 

is this variety of qualities, combined with the high standard of workman- 
ship which prevailed throughout the walnut period, that entitles walnut 
furniture to be considered as the most artistic that England has produced. 

Another reason which accounts for the popularity of old walnut 
furniture to-day, is the decorative value that it has in a modern room, in 
addition to its being as suitable for our requirements as it was for those of 
our ancestors. ‘This appreciation has caused the monetary value of walnut 
pieces to increase considerably during the last few years, more so in fact 
than in the case of oak or mahogany furniture. 

The steady rise in value of old English furniture during the last thirty 
or forty years and the present tendency towards a still further increase, 
taken in conjunction with the fact that the quantity of existing geauine 
furniture cannot be increased and js certain, as time goes on, to decrease, 
permits one to predict that fifty years hence old English furniture will 
be still more valuable than it is now. ‘The value of old furniture will 
always depend on the demand for it, but it is not too much to assume 
that future generations will show an appreciation and regard for the 
furniture of our ancestors at least equal to that which animates the collector 
of to-day. 


B 17 


1 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


As an example of the lack of regard in which walnut furniture was 
held one hundred years ago, there exists a record in a sale catalogue, when 
the furniture and contents of Wanstead House, Essex, were sold by auction 
in the year 1822, of a set of ten walnut chairs with two settees only realizing 
the sum of £13 7s. In the same sale “‘ A set of 8 solid mahogany carved 
frame scroll backed chairs, seats stuffed in beautiful yellow ground needle- 
work, on lion’s paw feet and balls,” was sold for {2 12s. 6d. From the 
description the walnut suite of furniture would to-day be worth at least 
£700 and the mahogany chairs with their needlework covers would not be 
considered expensive at {100 a chair. The want of appreciation at that 
period is not, however, surprising, when one remembers that it was the 
dawn of an epoch which not only utterly forgot the artistic glories of the 
preceding century, but was completely lacking in any artistic inspiration 
of its own. 

A notable fact in connection with walnut furniture is the quantity of 
it which is in existence. In nearly every small antique furniture shop 
throughout the country one is certain to find at least one, if not two or 
three, genuine pieces of walnut ; and in nearly every auction sale of antique 
furniture there are certain to be several examples. 

At the beginning of the walnut period, in the reign of Charles II, the 
total population of England did not exceed five and a half millions, and the 
walnut period during which furniture was made of this wood came to a 
close about 1745, having lasted, therefore, only eighty-five years. When 
this is realized and consideration is given to the fact that a large percentage 
must have been destroyed by fire, or otherwise damaged and broken up 
(this fate has undoubtedly accounted for hundreds of pieces during the last one 
hundred and fifty years) and shiploads have been exported to the United 
States of America within recent years, the quantity that still remains in this 
country is truly remarkable. 

Out of this comparatively large residue, however, it is, unfortunately, 
only a small portion that the discerning collector will wish to acquire, 
as a large amount of walnut furniture extant consists of parts of pieces, or 
pieces that have been very much restored, or have had their surfaces coated 
with a thick varnish, or that have been scraped and French polished. It 
is this last pernicious practice that accounts for the ruination of so 
much of the walnut furniture that is in existence to-day. French polishing 
destroys the mellow tone and colour of the walnut wood and the trans- 
lucent effect which its surface has acquired through the action of time. 
These qualities, so important to the informed collector of walnut furniture, 
compose what is called “ Patina.” 

Patina can only be acquired through the lapse of years, and is partly 


WALNUT FURNITURE 19 


caused by the wood assuming a mellow tone through exposure to the air 
and the light, and partly due to the rubbing, dusting, and handling which 
the piece has received during its lifetime. To understand the alteration 
in the colour of walnut furniture, it must be realized that after a piece had 
been made, the surface was stained to give it an even tone of colour and to 
bring out the natural beauty of the figure of the wood, and then finished 
with a thin coat of transparent varnish or polish. Long exposure to the 
light causes the varnish to assume a tone which gives a light mellow golden 
colour to the wood. The light also draws out the colour of the stain which 
was applied to the piece when made, and turns the outer skin of the wood 
to a light tone. In cases where a piece has stood in the sunlight for a number 
of years, the colour fades to an almost grey hue; the sun’s action, besides 
bleaching the skin of the wood, having also perished the varnish. 

As an example of an effect of bleaching on a piece of walnut, it will 
be seen that in Plate XIV of a walnut table, the top part of the left-hand 
inner leg is much darker than the right-hand leg: this has been caused 
through the piece standing for a number of years with the top open beside 
a window where the right-hand leg has caught the sun, and the other leg 
being in the shadow, is in consequence unfaded and of a dark tone. 

That it is the varnish, or polish, that gives the light golden colour to 
pieces of walnut is amply proved by the fact that in some cases where it 
has worn off, the wood thus exposed is darker in tone, as compared with the 
other parts.* 

This alteration in colour through exposure to the atmosphere and 
light is also especially noticeable if one of the mounts of an untouched 
piece, such as a handle, is removed. If the handle is original, the 
wood behind the back-plate, having been covered up since the piece 
was first made, will be found to be of an entirely different tone and colour 
from the exposed surface of the piece. The colour of walnut pieces in their 
untouched state varies considerably from the golden brown colour, caused 
through the mellowing of the varnish, or polish, to the almost grey tone of 
the piece which has become faded through the action of the sun’s rays 
upon it. There is no doubt that this alteration of the original colour of 
the wood gives a beauty to the piece which it lacked when first made. 

When the original surface is removed from a piece by a solvent—which 
is a necessary process before the piece can be French polished—the very 
attractive golden colour and the light tone of the wood are lost and no 
subsequent staining and polishing will succeed in recalling them. The 
wood becomes darker in tone and its surface raw, with the grain open. 


* For an example of this see Plate XXIV of a walnut bureau bookcase where the polish 
has worn off at the bottoms of the doors through constant handling. 


20 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


When a piece is French polished this open grain is filled up sometimes 
with plaster of Paris and sometimes with pumice-stone powder, until a per- 
fectly smooth surface has been obtained. ‘This surface then receives three 
or four coats of polish and is left with a smooth glass-like finish ; the figure 
of the wood becomes thereby obscured by the filling up of the grain and 
the heavy coatings of coloured polish, giving the piece a dark muddy 
appearance very far removed from the untouched example with its original 
golden colour. The French polish sinks into the surface of the wood and 
cannot be removed except by very drastic methods, whereas the old varnish, 
or polish, remains on the surface of the piece and can be scratched off. 

The lighter, or bleached, pieces of walnut are now the most highly 
prized owing to their greater decorative value, which is especially enhanced 
by the figure and grain of the wood being more distinct than in the darker 
examples. 

In addition to the change in the colour of the wood, the rubbing, 
dusting and handling that the surface of a piece has received since it was 
made, constitute a factor in the creation of its patina. This rubbing and 
dusting give to the surface of the wood a high gloss, very different from 
the artificial shine that is the result of French polish; this gloss is the 
polishing of the varnish which, however, is so thinly applied that it 1s 
barely perceptible. 

Another feature which belongs to pieces possessing patina and adds 
to their decorative value is the richness of tone given to the carving by the 
formation of a dark deposit, caused by the accumulation of dust and dirt, 
- combined with the beeswax or oil which has been applied to the piece 
from time to time for the purpose of domestic cleaning. 

For example, dust and dirt settling on the carved back of a Charles II 
chair, adhere to the beeswax which, on the less exposed surfaces of the 
carving, will not have been entirely removed by dusting. In course of 
time this beeswax gradually becomes hard and, darkened in tone by dust, 
acts as a foil to the raised parts which are light in tone in comparison, 
for, owing to their relief, they will have been rubbed clean by the duster. 
The accidental effect of light and shade thus formed is a very attractive 
feature in carved walnut pieces, and is also noticeable in a lesser degree 
on the mouldings of plain pieces, such as a bureau-bookcase. 

The importance to the collector of only buying pieces with good patina 
cannot be exaggerated, and if he confines his purchase to examples which 
have this desirable attribute not only will he be secure in the knowledge 
that his furniture possesses the additional beauty that patina confers, but 
that it is unquestionably genuine. 

Naturally, if he studies design only, his choice of a piece will not be 


WALNUT FURNITURE 21 


affected if it is French polished ; or, if fine workmanship be his standard 
of excellence, the absence of good surface condition will not weigh with 
him. But colour has an artistic value, as well as form and finish, and when 
a piece has had the mellow tone of age altered to a dark muddy colour, the 
change must be detrimental to its artistic value; that it is detrimental to 
its commercial value is amply proved by the fact that the present-day 
value of walnut pieces is largely influenced by the excellence, or otherwise, 
of their patina. 

Although by confining himself to buying pieces in their original state 
the collector considerably reduces his range of purchase, yet he will have the 
satisfaction of knowing that this self-imposed limitation is supported by 
sound artistic and commercial principles. 

The high appreciation of patina is not due to faddism. It is true that 
the question of rarity arises in connection with it, because it is the quality 
most rarely found in walnut furniture, but, far transcending the importance 
of “ rarity,” recognition must be given to the inherent power it possesses 
of investing the whole of a piece of furniture with an indefinable beauty 
peculiar to itself and inimitable. Its appreciation, therefore, is not a matter 
of preciosity but of good taste, insight and fidelity to what is artistically 
true. 

The walnut furniture extant shows a large quantity of certain types 
of articles and a great scarcity of others. The scarcity of some articles is 
due, undoubtedly, to their having been destroyed through their fragile 
construction being unable to withstand the vicissitudes of time; such, 
for example, are the stands for cabinets and chests. There are many chests 
and cabinets extant, but very few stands that supported them, as their 
delicate legs have been broken in the course of time and it is only the 
cabinet or chest that has survived. The large quantity of chairs that exist 
from the period of Charles II is especially noticeable, as also is the number 
of bureaux and bureau-bookcases from the latter half of the walnut period. 
Other examples that exist in large numbers to-day are such pieces as chests- 
with-drawers, tallboys and small pedestal dressing-tables and the small 
dressing-table on legs, all of which can be classified as bedroom furniture. 

Another type of article which has come down to us in large numbers 
is the long-case walnut clock. On the other hand, the scarcity of walnut 
tables, bookcases and china cabinets throughout the whole period is very 
noticeable. | 

The varying scarcity and abundance of different pieces of walnut 
furniture is to some extent compensated for by the fact that where there 
is a paucity of one particular type of piece in walnut, there is a corresponding 
abundance of the similar piece in either oak or mahogany ; and conversely 


22 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


where there is an abundance in walnut there is a scarcity in oak or mahogany. 
As an example of this, there is a comparatively large number of oak gate- 
legged tables of the late seventeenth century, and a negligible quantity in 
walnut ; again, later in the period, there is a large quantity of mahogany 
side-tables and oval-top dining-tables, but a contemporary example in 
walnut is of extreme rarity. The great quantity of walnut bedroom furniture, 
such as has already been specified, may be contrasted with the absence of 
contemporary mahogany examples ; and similarly it is also very noticeable 
as regards long-case clocks, bureaux and bureau-bookcases. 

From this it would appear that houses were furnished with oak and 
walnut furniture from 1660—the beginning of the walnut period—up to 
the introduction of mahogany furniture about 1720, and from 1720-1745 
with walnut and mahogany furniture. This would, of course, only refer 
to houses of the well-to-do, as the poorer classes throughout the walnut 
period used furniture made of oak, or fruit-wood, which is proved by the 
number of contemporary examples that have survived in these woods of 
a similar design to those in walnut. 

It is difficult to offer an explanation for the reason that the cabinet- 
makers of the walnut period made certain articles only in oak and mahogany 
and not in walnut. Why such furniture as chests-with-drawers, tallboys, 
bureaux, bureau-bookcases, dressing-tables, and long-case clocks was made 
in walnut and not in mahogany is perhaps due to the fact that, when mahogany 
was first introduced, the cabinet-makers only used a variety which, although 
a splendid medium for carving, had but little figure or grain. They there- 
fore employed this mahogany, which lacked the natural decorative feature 
possessed by walnut, for those pieces they intended to decorate with carving ; 
and continued to use walnut for the plain pieces which would have been too 
monotonous in appearance if made in the unfigured mahogany. This is 
amply borne out by those plain pieces of this period that are met with 
to-day made in mahogany; being uninteresting and plain-looking, they 
can in no way compare in decorative value with the walnut examples. 
The cabinet-makers continued to make these plain pieces in walnut until 
they began to use Cuban mahogany, which had a fine figure and grain, and 
so combined the qualities of the two woods. A fact that helps to prove the 
truth of this theory is that furniture began to be made in fine-figured 
mahogany about 1745, after which date walnut practically ceased to be 
used for furniture making. 

The abundance and scarcity of different pieces of walnut furniture 
naturally influences their monetary value to-day, the prevalence of some 
articles and the rarity of others being reflected in their respective 
costs; the value of a bureau, which is a comparatively common piece, 


WALNUT FURNITURE 23 


being considerably less than that of a walnut table, which is a far 
rarer article. 

As a general rule it will be noticed that the cabinet-makers of the 
walnut period did not vary, to any great extent, the shape and form of their 
furniture ; when, therefore, a piece is discovered, which, because of some 
elaboration or unusual feature, differs from the pattern usually found, its 
value will be correspondingly high. In addition to following a similarity 
in design, the cabinet-makers more or less standardized their measurements, 
which is the reason why such pieces as bureaux, bureau-bookcases and 
chest-with-drawers are generally found to-day about 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches 
in width. They also, however, made these pieces measuring from about 
2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches in width, and these narrower examples are more 
sought after, partly because of their rarity, but also on account of the greater 
convenience they afford for modern requirements in small rooms. 

Judging from examples that have survived, certain pieces appear to have 
been made only in small sizes. Examples of these are the small pedestal 
dressing-table, the dressing-table on legs and the rare small writing bureau 
on stand. It is difficult to say why the cabinet-makers did not make large 
examples of these pieces, especially of the dressing-table, which it is reason- 
able to suppose would have been more useful in the larger size. 

Another feature which has an important influence upon the value of 
walnut furniture, in addition to patina, design and size, is the quality of a 
piece. ‘This varies considerably, showing that just as there are pieces 
to-day i modern furniture varying to suit the purse of the purchaser, so 
there were in the walnut age. The details of this variation in quality will 
be more fully dealt with in the next chapter. 

This question of gauging the quality of a piece is an important one to 
the collector, and an examination in this respect should always be made 
with a view to arriving at a correct estimate of its value. The question of 
“original” quality is quite independent of “patina,” as, naturally, the 
two have no connection with each other, the one being given to a piece 
when made, the other acquired by it through age. To find both in a piece 
is very desirable, but, unfortunately, rare, and generally it is the latter that 
is lacking. Of the two the absence of patina is the more to be deplored, 
inferior quality being less detrimental to the appearance of a piece than 
the destruction of its patina. 

Another point in connection with walnut furniture that is important 
to the collector is whether a piece is English or foreign. Walnut furniture 
was not made in England alone, as in Holland, France, Spain, and Italy, 
furniture was being made from this wood contemporaneously with the 
walnut period in England. The English were the last to adopt the use of 


24 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


walnut wood for their furniture, and, as will be seen, its introduction into 
this country was due to the English arts and crafts in the time of Charles II 
being strongly influenced by foreign tastes. The fact, therefore, that English 
walnut furniture was copied and adapted, both as regards its design and 
the manner in which it was made, from the furniture of foreign countries, 
gives it a similarity in appearance to foreign examples. ‘The walnut 
furniture of English origin has a far higher value in England to-day than the 
majority of the contemporary foreign pieces, and this difference in some 
cases is so marked that it makes the question of the provenience of a piece 
one that requires serious consideration on the part of the collector, as he is 
likely to meet with a large quantity of foreign walnut furniture in this 
country which has been imported within recent years to meet the demand 
for English walnut. ‘The collector, therefore, who intends to rely on his 
own judgment when he purchases a piece should make himself acquainted 
with the difference in design and execution between English furniture and 
the contemporary furniture of foreign origin. 

As will be shown in the succeeding chapters, there is a great similarity 
between the English and Dutch examples belonging to the first half of the 
walnut period. In the last half the similarity is not so marked, as designers 
and makers of English furniture gradually freed themselves from foreign 
influence and began to evolve an individual style of their own. The differ- 
ence in value between the later examples of Dutch and English furniture 
is greater than it is between the earlier. 

Compared with the Dutch, the contemporary Spanish and Italian 
furniture does not bear so close a resemblance to the English, and, there- 
fore, is less dangerous to the collector. The same remark applies, also, to 
the contemporary French walnut furniture, with the exception of some chairs 
and stools which bear a strong resemblance to the English examples of 
the period of William and Mary. Such French pieces, however, are but 
seldom met with in this country, and are in most cases as valuable as the 
English examples. 

In the succeeding chapters reference will be made to the way the 
furniture designers and cabinet-makers in England followed and adapted 
the designs of the Dutch furniture, and also, though in a lesser degree, 
those of the French. The varying differences in construction and work- 
manship between the English and Dutch cabinet work is also mentioned. 
If Dutch and English examples are studied and examined on the lines 
indicated, the collector will soon acquire a knowledge of, and a familiarity 
with, the details in design and construction which are characteristic of the 
furniture of each country, so that recognition of a foreign example will not 


be difficult. 


CHAPTER II 
QUALITY AND WORKMANSHIP 


HE construction and workmanship of walnut furniture from 
the beginning of the walnut period to the reign of Queen Anne 
was strongly influenced by the Dutch. This was due to the 
commercial intercourse between Holland and England, and the 
revival of the arts in this country after the Restoration, which 

stimulated the importation of Dutch furniture and the migration of a 
number of Dutch craftsmen to these shores. This influx of Dutch ideas 
and craftsmen considerably increased when William III became king, in 
fact, during his reign the palaces at Hampton Court and Kensington, and 
the houses of the nobility, were furnished and decorated in an Anglo- 
Dutch style. 

At this period the craft of furniture making in England was undoubtedly, 
to a large extent, in the hands of Dutchmen, who were highly gifted as 
designers and cabinet-makers. One of the few surviving records of a 
cabinet-maker in the late seventeenth century mentions Gerreit Johnson, 
a Dutchman, who must have been one of the leading cabinet-makers in 
England, as he supplied several china cabinets to Queen Mary for her china 
closet at Hampton Court. The celebrated Grinling Gibbon, whose natural- 
istic wood-carving was so beautiful a feature of the oak panelled rooms of 
this period, was also of Dutch origin. 

It is a notable fact, however, that English walnut furniture still retained 
an insular character, even though made by Dutch craftsmen in the Dutch 
manner, and in a style derived from foreign influences and made, in some 
cases, out of imported material. These Dutch immigrants, although they 
employed their own methods of construction and workmanship, invariably 
adapted the design of the furniture they produced to suit the taste and 
needs of the English market. 

By the reign of Queen Anne the workmanship had become more 
refined and not so Dutch in character as in the first half of the walnut age. 
This improvement in the quality of workmanship continued until the end 
of the period, in proportion as the Dutch influence gradually declined. 
An example of this is seen in the manner of dovetailing in drawers of 


25 


26 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


furniture of about 1680, which is so like that of the contemporary Dutch 
furniture that it would be impossible to determine the provenience of a 
piece from this feature alone. By 1715 the English form of dovetailing 
had not only altered in construction,* but had become much finer than 
the contemporary Dutch, which still retained its original roughness of 
finish. The same peculiarity is also noticeable between the quality of 
early Dutch and English marquetry and the late marquetry of the two 
countries. 

The introduction of Dutch methods of construction and Dutch work- 
manship in making English furniture is, at this period, distinctly marked 
by the use of “‘ veneer,” as previously all furniture in England had been 
made out of the solid wood. In the making of veneered furniture a carcase 
was first constructed of deal or oak and a layer of walnut (cut to about re 
to $ of an inch in thickness) was then glued on to the surface. By this 
means the decorative value of the natural beauty of the figure of the wood 
was best obtained, the veneer being carefully arranged so that its figure 
formed a symmetrical pattern. To do this four pieces of veneer were cut 
in successive layers from the same piece of wood, so that each piece would 
have identically the same markings. The four were then laid together so 
that the markings joined and formed a symmetrical pattern. To cover a 
table-top, for instance, each of the four pieces would form a quarter of the 
whole top and, the markings being identical in each, a symmetrical pattern 
would thus be obtained. The cutting and laying of the veneer in this 
manner is termed “ quartering.”’ 

The way in which the “ veneer’ was cut from the tree also gave a 
variation to the figure; for instance, if it were cut lengthways from the 
trunk it would show the grain running along the surface, whereas if the 
veneer were cut across the root of the tree, the figure would be far more 
finely marked and have a mottled appearance. Walnut cut in this latter 
manner is called “‘ burr walnut.” Another method of obtaining a variation 
of the figure, which was much in vogue during the first half of the walnut 
period, was by cutting the veneer transversely at an oblique angle from the 
smaller branches of the tree, which produced an oval figure, and from its 
resemblance to the shell of an oyster is termed ‘“‘ oyster-shell veneer.” 
Each piece of veneer was skilfully cut to fit the adjoining pieces before they 
were glued to the carcase, and they were so arranged that the sections 
of the wood formed a pattern. A very favourite method of still further 
enhancing the appearance of this veneer was to inlay into its surface, after it 
had been glued on to the carcase, lines of holly or boxwood in a geometrical 
pattern. Cabinets, clock-cases, chests-with-drawers and the tops of tables 

* See page 30. 


b] 


QUALITY & WORKMANSHIP 27 


will all be found decorated with this oyster-shell parquetry, and it was 
specially suitable for the flat stretchers of tables and stands owing to the 
small marking of the figure. 

Examples with oyster-shell parquetry are naturally of a higher value 
than those decorated with the straight-cut veneer from the trunk. Laburnum 
was the wood most often selected for this particular treatment, having the 
best figure for the purpose ; walnut was not so suitable, the markings in the 
smaller branches not being sufficiently pronounced. Olive wood parquetry 
was sometimes used, and is generally met with on cabinet doors and on 
clock-cases ; while two other woods occasionally employed in this manner 
were coromandel and king wood. Lignum-vite was also made use of, 
but not often, owing to its dark colour. 

Besides the careful arrangement of the figure, the surfaces of a piece, 
such as the top of a table or the door of a cabinet, were bordered by an 
edging of cross-banded veneer. This border, or edging, has the grain of 
the wood running across the width and not along the length. Inside this 
border, and dividing it from the central panel of veneer, a small band of 
herring-bone or feather inlay made of narrow strips of veneer cut on a slant 
is invariably found. These strips were laid side by side, so that the grain 
met in the middle at a right angle. This herring-bone or feather inlay was 
a much favoured type of decoration for walnut pieces, in fact it may be said 
that but few pieces of veneered walnut are ever found without it. It was 
invariably used on drawer fronts, sometimes in conjunction with, but more 
often without, the cross-banded edging described above. On the earlier 
pieces this inlay was wider than on the later. 

After the carcase of the piece had been veneered the necessary mould- 
ings were then applied. The mouldings were formed by glueing a narrow 
strip of cross-cut walnut on to a foundation of deal, the surface of the 
walnut being then worked to the required section. All these mouldings 
were cross-cut, that is to say, they had the grain running across the width 
and not along the length. 

Sometimes the furniture of the walnut period, especially chairs, stools, 
settees, and mirror frames, had the mouldings and carving enriched with 
gilding. (For an example of a piece with the carved enrichment gilded 
see Plate XXV.) This was more often the case in the reign of Queen Anne 
and subsequently, but even then its use was reserved for the more expensive 
pieces, and but few genuine examples exist. 

Occasionally the backs and legs of chairs and settees were decorated 
with an ornamental panel of gilt gesso. This feature was carved out 
of a thin coating of plaster in very low relief and then gilt, but very 
few examples of walnut furniture enriched in this manner are known, 


28 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURN 


PLATE II 


(6) A walnut arm-chair, circa 1665. In the collection 


(a) A walnut arm-chair, circa 1660. ia turned-back st 
original.) In the collection of Cecil Millar, Esq. 


LP eh ge 
Lon 


PLATE II 


re 


mere. 


QUALITY & WORKMANSHIP 29 


although the combination is not so scarce where walnut mirrors ‘are 
concerned. 

The gilding of this period was of the finest quality, and when new must 
have been bright and glaring. Time, however, has deprived it of some of 
its brilliance, and to-day, when found in conjunction with the walnut, both 
mellowed and patinated, the effect is the very reverse of garish, the subdued 
tone of the gilding being in perfect harmony with the walnut wood, and 
adding considerably to the beauty and value of the piece. 

The way the present-day value of walnut furniture is affected by its 
quality has already been commented upon, and pieces can be divided into 
three classes according to the degree of quality that they possess. The 
first consists of costly pieces of superlative merit and of elaborate design 
made for the nobility, in which the finest workmanship and material 
have been employed throughout. In the second, representing the more 
ordinary type of furniture made for the well-to-do, the workmanship is of 
a high standard, but more restraint is shown in design and ornamentation. 
The third comprises pieces of poor and coarse workmanship made in an 
altogether cheaper manner from inferior materials and at much less cost. 

The quality of a walnut piece is determined to a large extent by the 
marking and figure of the veneer. In a piece of high quality burr walnut 
or another type of finely figured walnut was used on the drawer fronts or 
door panels, a less figured veneer being employed for the sides, which were 
not so conspicuous or important as the front of the piece. In an example 
of inferior quality the front was treated with plain veneer cut from the 
trunk of the tree, which cost considerably less than the finely marked 
variety, and the sides in some cases were formed by the deal carcase stained 
to resemble walnut. In such a piece attention was not paid to the arrange- 
ment of the figure to obtain a symmetrical design, and the decorative value 
of the piece suffered accordingly. 

Drawer linings of deal instead of oak are another feature which denotes 
a piece of poor quality. Sometimes the front of the drawer is made of 
deal with the sides, back and bottom of oak; pieces with drawers made in 
this manner are not of such good quality as those which have their drawers 
lined entirely in oak. A further mark of good quality is when the sides of 
the drawers have their top edges carefully rounded off; on an inferior 
piece they are either left square or with the sharp edges roughly removed. 

In appraising the quality of a piece the amount of oak used in the 
construction of the carcase should always be noted. Oak was a better 
foundation for veneer than a soft wood such as deal, but it was more expen- 
sive, and therefore was sparingly employed, if at all, on cheaper grade pieces. 
As an example of this, the interiors of good quality bookcases and cabinets 


30 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


where the carcase can be seen will be made of oak, but where the carcase is 
not visible, as in the case of the bottom part of a bureau-bookcase, which 
is hidden by the drawers, it will generally be found made of deal. In a 
piece of inferior quality the exposed parts of the carcase are made of deal 
as well as the unseen parts. 

The drawers of walnut furniture are nearly always found constructed 
so that the grain of the wood of the drawer bottoms runs from front to 
back ; when the grain runs from side to side it shows that the piece must 
have been made about the middle of the eighteenth century or later, when 
drawers were first constructed in this manner. In the early walnut furniture 
of the time of Charles II the drawer bottoms were nailed to the bottom edges 
of the drawer sides, and the drawers had no runners,* but from the time 
of William and Mary onwards, the bottoms were let into rabbets cut in 
the bottom edges of the sides, and then strips of wood were glued on to the 
bottom drawer to act as runners, see Diagram 1. 
Many walnut pieces of this later time will also 
be found with the drawer bottoms and runners 
fixed to the bottom edges of the sides without the 
rabbets, but this method of construction denotes 
inferior workmanship, as it was both quicker and | 
easier to fix the bottom in this manner than to PIAGRAM 1 
cut the rabbets in the sides. Tvenicp bee f 

The drawers of the furniture of the period of our boffom let info 
Charles II had the dovetails carried through to tabbef indrawer side . 
the face of the drawer front, and the dovetailing 
was coarse, there being only about three tails in the depth of the drawer 
(see Diagram 2)f ; but in the drawers from the reign of William and Mary 
onwards the dovetails were not carried through in this manner, being 
stopped about 4 inch from the face (see Diagram 3). Dovetailing of the 
latter type became finer as the eighteenth century advanced, the tails being 
increased in number and made narrower. ‘The date of a piece can be 
roughly gauged by the dovetailing of the drawers. In English walnut pieces 


* The construction of the drawers without runners is typical of oak furniture from Eliza- 
beth to Cromwell, in which the drawer was carried on bearers or runners, fixed to the carcase, 
which slid in grooves cut in the drawer sides. The early type of drawer with this form of runner 
is sometimes found on walnut pieces of country make, but it is more typical of oak than walnut 
furniture, as this method was discarded in the best furniture from the time of Charles II, and 
thereafter was only followed by country cabinet-makers. 

+ Many pieces dating from the early part of the eighteenth century will be found with the 
drawers dovetailed in this earlier manner, such pieces being the work of country cabinet- 
makers. This earlier dovetailing will also be found on Dutch pieces, as it was a form of dovetail 
favoured by the Dutch long after it had been discarded by the English. 


QUALITY © WORKMANSHIP 31 


the drawers were always dovetailed and never nailed; a piece with the 
drawers nailed together is indicated as a Dutch example. 

The variation in the design of the mouldings or beads on or around 
the drawer fronts is a rough indication of the date of the construction of 
those walnut pieces that™were fitted with drawers. The accompanying 


SSS 
Bs 


iy TT} 
HH] 


SS 
\4 


NS 
\ 


SAAS 


DIAGRAM 3. 


DIAGRAM 2. 

Farlyformof dovetail ing Later form of dovetailing 

found in Charfes I and found on English walnut 

James lwalnut fumiture. furnilure dating from fhe 
reign Williams Mary 
ondords 


Diagrams, 4, 5, 6, 7, show the different mouldings and their dates. These 
dates, however, are only very approximate, especially as regards oak or 
fruit-wood furniture of country make, as the smaller country cabinet-makers 
in many cases continued to use methods and styles after their contemporaries 
in the larger towns had adopted fresh ideas. 

Besides this veneered furniture, the making of which started in the 


32 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNT PU t 


PuLaTE ITI ; 


(6) A tall walnut child’s yee circa 1667. In the collection 
Prestige. 


a | (a) A walnut chair of unusual and elaborate design, | : 
| workmanship, circa 1685. In the ee } 
Ae eee 


PACH NI HIS, VAG 


QUALITY & WORKMANSHIP 33 


first decade of the reign of Charles IJ, articles such as chairs, stools, and 
couches were made in solid walnut. These articles were decorated with 
Carving and turning, and their production commenced just before the 
Restoration and continued up to the beginning of Queen Anne’s reign. 
After this date the backs of chairs, instead of being carved, were 


Yj 
] 


HSN SSO OMOMNI OY QA Lp 
SEZ ZZZ ee 


A 
SS, SW 
oe / 


- 


. 
- 

> 
= 
> 


ae 4. 
Half round beading on 
carease round drawer fronf. 


Circa 1660 fo 1705. 


iN 

= LALO </ 

; nN KE; AAAS IZ 
je is 


ST + ; 
Wee y 


N 


ELLIE LE ELK 


uit TINE 
us 


1, 
DIAGRAM. Gu 3 
Overlapping drewerfront caifh 
moulded edge. 9° -~ 
Circal/I5 fo 1/35. 


Cc 


| K 
, a7 I 


i‘ “f 
DI AGRAM 5. 
Double hal fround beading on 


carcase round drauier front . 


Circa 1700 tol 715. 


| it: 


; SSS NSS, SON 
G LZL Bie EEE LEE Lhe 


W2I7TTI Za: 
M4 


Ce 
_\\ 


_ 


SSS 
y PIII LL LILLE 
ENYA 


NY 
DIAGRAM 7. 
Edge of drawer front | 
surrounded by cock bead. 
Circa 1/30 fo 1800 . 


KKK 


3 wot 


34 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


veneered, together with the seat rails, the legs and arms only being in 
the solid. 

There are degrees of quality in carving, as there are degrees of quality 
in veneered work. ‘The quality of the carving was progressive in fineness 
of execution from the reign of Charles IT to that of William III, in whose 
reign it reached a high state of perfection. In the reign of Queen Anne 
and later, owing to the fashion of veneering the backs of chairs and settees, 
carving was not used to the same extent. Sometimes, however, carved 
ornamentation was used in conjunction with walnut veneer for the decora- 
tion of the rails and splats of the backs of chairs and settees. Such carving 
was executed in very low relief from a thin layer of walnut which was 
glued on to the top of the veneer of the splat and side rails, giving it every 
appearance of having been carved out of the solid wood. 

The mounts on walnut furniture, such as drawer-handles and lock- 
plates, when original, are a feature that should not be overlooked, as these 
not only affect the value of a piece, but are in themselves of interest. A 
careful examination of these old mounts will reveal what care and attention 
were employed in their making. They will invariably be found in brass, 
lacquered so that they should not become dull through exposure to the 
atmosphere or require constant cleaning. ‘The earliest type of drawer- 
handle in the walnut period was the single drop ; it was made in a number 
of different designs, but genuine examples, when found, are usually of what is 
known as the “‘ Pear-drop”’ pattern. Examples of drop handles are shown on 
Plates VIII (c), XXXIV (a) and XXXVI (a). Another type of the single 
drop-handle is one in which a ring, hanging from the centre of a plain circular 
back-plate, takes the place of the drop. This type of handle is later in date 
than the pear-drop pattern, and is mostly found on walnut pieces dating 
from 1720. The drop and ring handles were fixed with a thin strip of brass 
threaded through the top of the handle, and doubled over, and after passing 
through a hole in the back-plate and drawer front, the ends were bent out 
and pressed into the back of the drawer. The more ordinary type of handle 
used on walnut furniture dating from 1700 is that with the shaped back- 
plate similar to the handles on the bureau-bookcase (Plate XXIV). These 
handles were fixed by means of two bolts ; the heads on the outside of the 
drawer were slotted to receive the two ends of the handle, and the bolts were 
kept in position by nuts on the inside of the drawer. So numerous were 
the designs for the back-plates to this type of handle that it is seldom to-day 
that two pieces which have their original mounts are found with the back- 
plates of the same design. 

The lock-plate or escutcheon was always made en suite with the back- 
plate, and fixed to the drawer front by small brass pins. Sometimes these 


QUALITY & WORKMANSHIP 35 


handles and lock-plates are decorated with an engraved design, and when 
they are of good quality their presence on a piece adds to its interest. The 
early examples of this type of handle with a back-plate are small, but towards 
the end of the walnut period they became larger. The larger ones sometimes 
had the back-plates pierced with a fret design or with the centre cut away 
in order to lighten their appearance (Plate XXV). ‘These mounts varied in 
quality according to their original cost ; the cheaper ones lacked the finish 
of the better examples, the engraving, if any, being crude, and the plates thin 
with rough edges. On pieces of furniture of very fine quality the mounts 
were water gilt instead of being lacquered. 

The quality of the original locks also varies considerably. The better 
examples are of brass, well made and nicely finished ; whereas the cheaper 
locks were made of iron, of coarse workmanship and rough in appearance. 

A difference that exists between the English and Dutch locks, and 
which is of assistance in determining whether a piece is Dutch or English, 
is that the Dutch lock is deeper from top to bottom, and the keyhole is, 
consequently, further removed from the top of the drawer. 

From the above brief remarks it will be seen that the handle and lock- 
plate varied in quality and also in design according to the period to which 
they belonged, and this alone makes it desirable for a piece to have its 
original mounts. Unfortunately, it must be said that the majority of the 
walnut furniture extant has handles of a pattern dating from the late 
eighteenth century, or even turned wooden Victorian handles, or with 
modern productions. Although the modern reproduction may be more or 
less of the right design for the piece, they will not have been chosen with 
the same infallible good taste that governed the selection of the original 
ones. When a piece is found without the original handles, the best course 
to adopt is to have faithful copies made, but care should be used in 
determining the pattern that will be in keeping with the piece. The width 
of the original handle can be ascertained by measuring the distance between 
the old holes on the drawer front, which will have been filled up. If there is 
only a single hole a drop-handle is indicated. This rule, however, does not 
always apply, as on some pieces of furniture as many as four or five holes 
will be found on the drawer fronts where each handle has been fixed in turn, 
showing that the piece has possessed two or three sets of handles since it 
was first made. 

Besides drawer-handles and lock-plates the hinges of cupboard doors, 
such as are found sometimes on a bureau-bookcase, are a type of hinge 
known as the “ Butterfly ” hinge, the “ leaves ” or “ straps ” of which are 
shaped and engraved. The presence of such hinges on a piece in place of 
the more ordinary butt hinge is a sign of good quality, which makes the 


36 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE IV 


(c) A walnut chair with finely carved splats in back and sapeee Ree 
stretcher, circa 1685. In the collection of Patrick Hastings, | 
iC, ; 


7) A beech arm-chair, painted black; circa 168 5. In the coll 
Frank Partridge, Esq. | he 


(a) A walnut chair, sone Dutch, circa 1695. i : gee 1 
J. Thursby Pelham, Esq. ee he tS 


PLATE IV 


bh 


QUALITY & WORKMANSHIP 37 


piece of more interest and greater value. The type of hinge that was more 
commonly used was one by which the door swung on a pivot formed by two 
pins. This “centre hinge,” as it is termed, was introduced into England 
by the Dutch, and is often found on oak and walnut pieces ; it was used 
in Holland throughout the eighteenth century, but is seldom found on 
English pieces dating later than 1725. 

The screws which were used to fix the hinges and locks will be found to 
differ considerably from the modern screw with its accurate machine-made 
thread. The old screws had blunt ends, and the thread was very rough owing 
to it being filed by hand. The heads also varied in size. 

Another point in connection with old walnut furniture which should 
be understood, is the effect that the shrinkage of the wood has upon it. 
Timber should not be used for eight or nine years after the tree has been 
felled, because all wood is liable to shrink. This is due to the sap drying 
up, which makes the wood contract across the grain therefore, a plank will 
shrink in width but not in length. 

The effect of shrinkage on old pieces of walnut is very noticeable, as 
the contraction of the wood used for the carcase causes the veneer on it to 
split. Many walnut tables are found with a crack in the veneer across the 
top, and cracks are also often found in the veneer on doors of cabinets. A 
good example of this shrinkage of wood may be seen in the drawer bottoms 
of walnut pieces, when gaps will be found measuring from rs to + of an inch 
between the joins of the wood. If the drawer bottoms are made in two or 
three pieces glued together, the contraction of the wood will open the 
joins ; if, however, they are made in one piece, the wood will split. The 
same effect is also noticeable on the backs of cabinets. A further example 
of shrinkage is the appearance of cracks at intervals running the same way 
as the grain on the cross-banded mouldings of a piece of walnut furniture. 
The cracks in the pilasters of the bureau-bookcase (see Plate XXV) are due to 
shrinkage, which has also caused the join in the wood of the back to open as 
shown in Plate XXVI. Another example of shrinkage can be seen in the table- 
top illustrated (Plate XIV). It will be noticed that the sides of the two leaves 
where they join in the middle are concave; this is because each leaf is 
formed by a centre panel framed at either end by two cramp pieces, with 
the grain running in the opposite direction to that of the panel. The centre 
panel has shrunk across the grain, but the side cramps have prevented it 
from shrinkage along its whole length. 


CHAPTER III 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE 

HE amazing credulity of that section of the public that sets 

out to furnish houses with old furniture is the reason for the 

large production at the present day of spurious examples. It 

can truthfully be said that not half the furniture sold as antique 

is genuine, as it is quite impossible for the demand to be 
satisfied by the amount that has survived. To label a piece of furniture 
“antique ” is to make it a saleable commodity, whereas when offered for 
sale as a reproduction the likelihood of finding a purchaser for it is con- 
siderably decreased. Not only is the fraudulent piece more easy to sell, 
but the profit realized is far greater than the legitimate profit on the sale of 
the modern reproduction. ‘The fascination which the antique has for the 
public, and the scarcity of genuine examples, presents an irresistible 
temptation to the fraudulent dealer to manufacture what he cannot honestly 
supply. 

The difference between the legitimate reproduction and the fraudulent 
can be clearly defined. The former is a modern replica of an old piece 
with no pretence to be anything other than what it appears, and is sold 
as such at a reasonable profit. True, it borrows from a previous age, but 
without disguise. ‘The spurious piece, on the other hand, is an ingenious 
fraud, imitating the characteristics of a genuine piece, and made with the 
deliberate intention of deceiving the collector. It is sold under false pre- 
tences at an exorbitant profit; in many cases for two or three hundred 
per cent in excess of its cost. 

The risk to the collector of falling a victim to the vendor of spurious 
furniture is so great that it is essential that he should arm himself with a 
knowledge that will be a protection against imposition. ‘The collector who 
either cannot afford the time, or has no inclination to study and acquire 
such knowledge, will be well advised to confine his attentions to inexpensive 
pieces or to reproductions ; otherwise it is more than probable he will pay 
very dearly for his ignorance. 

There is but one way by which the collector can guard against or lessen 
the risk of being imposed upon, and that is to become familiar with the 

33 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE 39 


attributes and appearance of the genuine and untouched example. To do 
this a study must be made of old pieces, and by constant and careful examina- 
tion in the light of his previous experience, which will be cumulative, he 
will gradually acquire a sound and intelligent knowledge of the salient 
features of genuine furniture and what it should look like. 

Although a practical knowledge of this description cannot be obtained 
by reading, yet a book can indicate the lines along which the collector 
should pursue his study, and thus guide and assist his initial efforts. Soon 
his knowledge will enable him to understand the artistic beauty and 
attraction that is to be found in pieces of old furniture, and to fix in his 
mind a standard of excellence which will instinctively prompt him to reject 
the pieces that fall short of it. 

In order to help the collector to recognize spurious pieces this chapter 
will deal with their chief characteristics, and give a brief description of the 
way in which they are made and the way they are faked to give them an 
appearance of age, and how they differ from the genuine examples. 

It may be said that to disclose the methods of the furniture faker is 
to invite him to alter those methods and invent fresh ones, so that in a short 
time the information would be out of date and useless. It should be borne 
in mind, however, that the manufacture of faked furniture is a business 
enterprise. ‘“‘ Fakes”? are commercial articles made for the purpose of 
trade, whilst genuine old pieces may be, and are, recognized as works of 
art, although when originally made they, too, were articles of commerce. 
The cost of labour and material obtaining to-day makes it impossible for 
the imitator to reproduce the old piece in anything like the same degree of 
perfection, except at a price that is prohibitive so far as a commercial 
proposition is concerned. Were this not the case, he would be able to put 
much better workmanship into his products and make a more faithful copy 
of the old work, which would be more likely to deceive. As it is, the faker 
is obliged to make his furniture on commercial lines to allow a good margin 
of profit. To show up his work, therefore, is to compel him to construct 
his pieces with much more accuracy and with fidelity to the original. ‘This 
would call for better workmanship and for more time being spent in faking 
their surfaces to counterfeit the appearance of age. ‘The increased ex- 
penditure of labour and time would add so considerably to the cost of 
production that it would make the venture scarcely worth his while. The 
more conversant collectors are with the faker’s art the more proficient in 
his deceptions will he have to be, until a point is reached when it will scarcely 
pay him to produce his spurious goods. 

Another point that has to be considered besides the question of the 
faked furniture of the future, is the danger arising from the vast quantity 


40 


OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE V 


(a) A French walnut child’s chair with upholstered seat and cane panel 
in back, circa 1685. (This foreign chair shows how closely the English 
chairs at this period were copied from the foreign models.) 


(5) A walnut nursing chair, circa 1670. 


(c) A walnut child’s arm-chair, circa 1685. 


(d) A walnut child’s arm-chair with upholstered back and seat, circa 1730. 


The above chairs are in the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


PIVATIERS Vi 


BONS tte oe a 9 al 


« 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE 41 


of it that has been made during the last quarter of a century, and which is 
still in existence. Every piece is a source of danger to the collector. The 
more knowledge, therefore, that he acquires, the more critical will he 
become of the pieces he already owns, with the result that those pieces that 
do not come up to his required standard of excellence, or which he discerns 
to be not genuine, will be discarded from his collection. It follows, there- 
fore, that the smaller the demand for faked furniture the greater will be 
the demand for the genuine, and its value will increase as the former becomes 
less saleable. 

The ways in which the faker creates his “‘ old furniture ”’ are many and 
varied, both as regards the piece which is of new construction throughout 
and the genuine old piece which has had its market value increased three 
or four times through being converted into a more elaborate and important 
example by the addition of spurious ornamentation. In all cases the imitator 
takes pains to give to his pieces an appearance of age so that the uninitiated 
may be more easily convinced of their genuineness. For the collector 
who carries in his mind a well-defined conception of what genuine furniture 
is like, the recognition of such pieces will present no difficulty. He will 
soon detect the absence of that “‘ quality ”’ of finish which marks the genuine 
piece, and miss the thoroughness of execution and the meticulous attention 
to detail which characterized the work of a people who belonged to an age 
when no consideration of time or cost of labour was allowed to restrict 
their art. 

The greatest obstacle that the faker has to surmount is the imitating 
of the patina of the old piece. If he could invent a varnish which would 
give a colour to new walnut similar to the golden colour of the old, as it 
exists to-day, it would not be too much to say that in a short time he would 
make a fortune. 

The colour of new walnut when stained and polished is brown with 
a slight tinge of green. The markings will not be prominent, the reason being 
that the wood will still contain in the soft fibre between the year rings a 
certain amount of sap. In an old piece the sap will have completely dried 
out and, in consequence, the soft fibre will be lighter in tone, making the 
markings more distinct and in greater contrast. ‘The faker has to direct his 
efforts to do this artificially, and to entirely eradicate the green tinge caused 
by the sap still remaining. He proceeds to effect this by drawing out the 
sap and by bleaching the surface of the wood with a prepared solution of 
nitric acid, the destructive action of which is stopped by an alkali. ‘This 
turns the wood to a lighter tone, giving more prominence to the figure. 
The surface of the piece is then stained slightly, and afterwards a coating 
of polish is applied ; it is then rubbed down with glass-paper and is again 


42 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


polished. After the second or third coat of polish the carving and mould- 
ings are painted with a dark mixture of polish and colouring matter, which 
is done to imitate the dark parts of the carving caused through the accumu- 
lation of the dust and dirt of age, as described on page 20. This polish is 
wiped off from the high lights of the carving, and only allowed to remain 
on the more deep-cut portions. After this process has been completed, 
another coat of polish is applied to the entire piece, which is again rubbed 
down to remove the high gloss.* As a finish, the surface is thoroughly 
rubbed over with wax darkened by lamp black or soot, and this mixture is 
allowed to remain in the crevices of the carving and in the hollows of the 
mouldings. Gold size is mixed with the wax in order to harden it artificially, 
but whilst it is still in a soft state, dust and dirt are dabbed on to its surface, 
which form a hard crust on the wax when it dries, and materially helps to 
disguise the new and imitate the old piece. The faker also scatters dust 
and dirt in the drawers and on the carcase of the piece so as to make his 
deception more complete. 

During the process of polishing, the surface of the piece is dented and 
scratched and the sharp edges sandpapered down. In order to obtain 
unequal indentations, say, on the top of a table, or the leg of a chair, a bunch 
of keys is knocked against it ; this method will leave marks and dents more 
closely resembling those on an old piece as they will be uneven and varied 
in appearance. 

The more prominent parts of the carving will be burnished by a chain 
burnisher, which wears down the wood and gives it the smooth and worn 
appearance of age. The imitator generally over-does this “‘ wearing away,” 
as he will give the whole of the carved surface of the piece a worn appearance, 
removing all sharp edges; whereas in a genuine piece the wear will be 
uneven, some parts being worn, whilst others will be as sharp as when they 
were originally cut. 

The faker, to overcome the difficulty of imitating the patina, will often 
transfer the original veneer from a genuine walnut piece, such as a chest- 
with-drawers, which is in a dilapidated state and beyond repair, on to the 
carcase of his spurious piece. The mouldings, however, will have to be 
new, and with these he will have difficulty in obtaining a colour similar to 
the genuine veneer. In many cases they will have the greenish tinge of the 
new wood. This practice is usually adopted for small pieces, such as the 


* As an alternative to polishing the faker will varnish the surface to give a closer resem- 
blance to the old pieces. The dark tones in the carving, however, can only be obtained by the 
mixture of polish and colouring as described, for it is not possible to darken the varnish in a 
similar manner. Varnish is generally employed by him either for marquetry furniture, or pieces 
in the solid wood, as chairs with no veneered work. 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE 43 


cases of long-case clocks, tables, or backs and seat-rails of chairs and settees, 
where there are no large surfaces to be covered, as the quantity of veneer 
obtainable from an old piece would not be sufficient for a large article suc 
as a china cabinet. , 

Besides having to imitate the patina on the exposed surfaces of a piece 
he has also to give the appearance of age to the unexposed parts, such as 
the interiors and backs of cabinets and the linings of drawers. These parts, 
as explained in the previous chapter, would be either of deal or oak, and the 
surface of the wood, never having been polished or rubbed or handled, 
will be in its natural state. The effect, however, of the atmosphere on both 
oak and deal is to darken them and give the surface a dry and mature look. 
To imitate this unpolished and natural appearance is far more difficult for 
the faker than to imitate the patina on the exterior of the piece, and to 
overcome this difficulty he utilises old material for the visible parts of the 
interior of his new piece, taking care to preserve the original surface. For 
instance, he will make the linings of the drawers from the oak or pine linings 
of the drawers of an old chest or wardrobe, which, owing to its condition, 
is no longer of any value. By utilizing these old drawer-linings he will 
have an original surface both on the outside and the inside of his new 
drawers, and it will only be the freshly-cut ends that will have to be stained 
and darkened to give the colour and appearance of age. As another example 
of the use of old material, the faker will make the seat-rails of spurious 
chairs out of the beech rails of an old four-post bed, which will have 
the unpolished surface and mature look of the beech rails of a genuine 
chair. 

By utilizing this old material with its original surface the imitator gets 
over some of his difficulty, for he has only to fake those parts which have 
been freshly cut ; and these are not so important, being generally the edges 
of the wood and therefore less likely to be noticed. When he is reduced to 
using new material, he tones down the colour of the wood by acids and stains 
and dirties its surface so as to counterfeit the appearance of age. 

To overcome the difficulty of faking the interiors of china cabinets 
and bookcases, the imitator paints them in oil colours, generally of a pale 
green or blue tint, and by rubbing dirt and colouring matter on to the 
painted surface and blistering and cracking it by heat, he achieves a very 
passable imitation of age. Paint, however, is always foreign to walnut 
furniture, and if it should be found on a genuine piece it must have been 
applied at a date subsequent to its manufacture. This, however, is of so 
rare an occurrence, as regards the interiors of walnut pieces, that the collector 
can safely assume that all cabinets and bookcases that he may come across 
with their interiors painted are not genuine specimens. 


PiaTe VI 


; ? 5 ok « 
(c) A walnut chair, circa 1685. In the collection of J. Thursby Pelham 
Esq. “3 


(6) A walnut chair with curved hooped back id il splat, mela SS C ‘ 
In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. | 


(a) A walnut chair in the style ie Daniel Marot, circa 1 
collection of M. Harris, Esq. 3 hE 


Yee , : \ i is kan" ash ty i si yr i! : 
' =. Biy a y 7 ir . 4 ke _ ae ov , it 


Sa 
c. 
¥ 


PLATE VI 


. 


wy 


rd = ¥ $e. is 


‘ 


* 


~~ 


1a a? 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE 45 


The more experienced faker invariably uses old materials as there is 
no difficulty in obtaining a supply of it from pieces of early nineteenth- 
century and Victorian furniture. He will also buy up old office fittings, 
which, being more or less unsaleable, can be obtained at a low cost. The use, 
however, of this kind of old material has its drawbacks, for there is the 
difficulty of hiding all the signs of the purposes for which it has been 
previously used. It also hampers the faker in faithfully copying an old piece 
which he could do if he were to use new material. For instance, he will 
use the pine drawer-linings of an early nineteenth-century chest-with-drawers 
for making the drawer-linings of a spurious Queen Anne piece; pine, 
however, was never used for the carcases of drawer-linings of walnut 
furniture, as it only came into general use for cabinet-work in the second 
half of the eighteenth century. The collector, therefore, who can tell the 
difference between deal and pine will be armed with a good test to apply 
when judging such walnut pieces as he may come across, and he will view 
with strong suspicion all those examples that have their carcases or drawer- 
linings, or both, made of pine. Deal turns a light brown tone with age, 
whereas pine assumes a reddish tint. If a nick is made with a knife in the 
deal carcase of a genuine piece it will be seen that age has discoloured the 
wood below the surface ; if a nick is made in a piece of modern pine or deal, 
which has had its surface stained in order to give it a dark tone, the wood 
below the surface will be found to be a very light colour. ‘This is a test 
which can be applied to the interior carcase of a piece when it is painted 
or coated with colouring matter, and is unlike the dry, clean appearance 
typical of the genuine example. 

The imitator places pieces, over which he takes particular pains, in the 
sun to bleach their surfaces in order to give them a more genuine appear- 
ance. Genuine walnut furniture has an inequality of tone owing to the 
susceptibility of the wood to the action of light; and so most pieces are 
found darker in some parts than they are in others. The imitator, therefore, 
places his pieces in the sun in order to obtain this unevenness of tone ; in 
fact if he can afford to take sufficient time over the production of his furni- 
ture, he finds the sun a valuable ally in assisting him to give it an appearance 
of age. The even tone of the spurious piece can be well exemplified if one 
of the mounts, such as a lock-plate, is removed. The colour of the wood 
behind it will be exactly the same as the exposed wood around it, as the 
faker polishes and finishes his furniture before he fixes the mounts. On 
a genuine piece, as already described, page 19, the unexposed wood behind 
the mount will be a different tone and colour from the surface of the piece 
which has been exposed to the atmosphere. It is not possible for him to 
bleach the wood around the handles and lock-plates, and at the same time 


46 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


to leave the wood behind them a dark tone ; but even if he could do this, 
it would hardly be worth his while as this discrepancy would not be dis- 
covered unless one of the mounts were removed, an unlikely procedure 
by an intending purchaser, unless his suspicions were aroused. The 
collector, therefore, as a test of those pieces which he doubts to be genuine, 
should remove one of the lock-plates and look to see if there is any difference 
between the colour and tone of the wood beneath it and the colour of the 
surface of the piece. A favourite trick of the imitator to give a piece a 
genuine look is to break or damage parts of it, which he will then proceed to 
carefully restore. 

A defect that occurs and will assist the collector in recognizing the 
spurious piece is when the action of the acid with which the wood has been 
treated, as already described, has not been completely stopped. In such a 
case a white mould appears on the surface of the wood, and is especially 
noticeable on the unpatinated parts, such as the seat-rails of chairs; and 
its effect on the exposed polished parts of a piece is to make the polish 
opaque and of a very light yellow colour. These peculiarities are due to the 
acid working out of the wood, and pieces affected in this manner entirely 
lose the artificial appearance of age fictitiously given to them. 

Shrinkage, as described. on page 37, is seldom found on spurious 
pieces, owing to their carcases having been made from old material which 
has already shrunk before being used for the second time. The collector 
should, therefore, always look for signs of shrinkage in a piece, such as 
cracks in the veneer on the tops of tables or in cabinet doors and drawer- 
bottoms. A sign of shrinkage on genuine pieces, that is imitated on spurious 
ones, is the cracks on the cross-banded mouldings as described on page 37. 

Sometimes the imitator copies 
these by running a saw through 
the mouldings, in which case they 
will not be difficult to distinguish, 
as the cracks will all be of an 
equal width, and the short lengths 
of the mouldings formed by the. 


DIAGRAM 8 cracks will be straight (see Dia- 
A\pbearance of cross -banded moulding gram 8), and will not have the 


rats ; concave form caused by the wood 
ing cr ifici é 
showing cracks artificially made with saw contracting, as 4e theloaea aaa 


genuine mouldings (see Diagram 
g). Sometimes the faker will go to the trouble of damping the strip of 
walnut before he glues it down, and when this is done, the wood will shrink 
on drying, thus causing it to split in a way similar to the genuine piece. 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE 47 


This artificial method of shrinking, however, takes time, and therefore adds 
to the cost of production, and although these cracks are far more 
convincing than the saw cuts, the faker does not generally go to this 
trouble, except when making 
walnut picture frames, a_ less 
important undertaking than the 
mouldings of a piece of furniture.* 

A test based on shrinkage can 
be applied to such articles as 
chairs, stools, settees and tables 


in order to determine whether DIAGRAM 9. 
they are genuine. The legs and = Abpearance of cros-banded moulding 


stretchers of these pieces are ; 
° = { T 
morticed together, and owing to caifh cracks resulting from the natural 


the shrinkage of the wood and shrinkage of the wood . 

the perishing of the glue, the 

joints give or creak a little under pressure. The newly made table or chair, 
the legs and stretchers of which are all tightly fixed in their mortices owing 
to the wood not having shrunk, betray no looseness in the morticed joints 
and are rigid. This test will always apply except in the case of those 
articles, which, owing to bad condition, have been repaired, and which in 
the process have had the defects caused by shrinkage corrected. 

It should also be noticed that the tenons of morticed joints are held 
in position by pegs, and that in a genuine piece the heads of the pegs pro- 
trude slightly, which is caused by the shrinkage of the wood in which the peg 
has been driven. If the head of the peg is flush with the surface, it does not 
necessarily denote that the piece is modern, but it shows that the pegs cannot 
be the original ones, and that the chair or table has been taken to pieces and 
put together again with new pegs within recent years. ‘This feature of the 
projecting pegs is not imitated by the faker; he makes them flush with the 
surface and sometimes, in order to save expense, he omits them altogether. 

To imitate a defect very often found in old pieces that are veneered, 
the faker will lift and buckle the edges of the veneer by first damping it 
and then applying a hot iron near to its surface. He will also, when making 
pieces with drawers, wear down the runners by placing sand and grit between 
the runner on the drawer and the carcase, which, on working the drawer in 
and out, wears away the soft wood of the carcase. 'To more effectively and 
readily accomplish his object he will place a heavy weight in the drawers 


* The faker will sometimes make these small cross-banded mouldings of a solid strip of 
cross-cut walnut and not go to the trouble of laying it down on a foundation of soft wood similar 
to the mouldings on a genuine piece, which will never be found made in this manner. 


48 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLaTE VII 


(a) A walnut stool with upholstered seat, circa 1680. In the collection of Rea ¥ 
J. Thursby Pelham, Esq. 


(6) A walnut stool with upholstered seat and serpentine stretches er. 
1690. In the collection of Percival D. ie eS Aon | 


? (0) A beech stool, painted black, with upholstered s seat, » circ 
collection of J. Thursby Pelham, ed : 


PLATE VII 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE 49 


to bring more pressure to bear on the runners. The difference between 
the wear on the runners of a drawer caused in this manner, and the natural 
wear on the runners of a drawer of a genuine piece, is that in the first case 
more wear will show on the front part of the runner than on the back, which 
is due to the imitator not pulling the drawer right out, whereas, on a genuine 
drawer, the back of the runner will be more worn than the front, as when 
the drawer is pulled out the back portion of the runner on the drawer will 
always be in contact with the carcase, while the front portion will be free of 
contact. ‘The grooves made on the bottom of the drawers by the stops 
fixed on the carcase should be inspected, as sometimes the imitator in making 
his new drawer from old material will, in using the bottom of an old drawer 
with the marks of the original stops on it, not place them in line with his 
new drawer stops. It is always very difficult for the faker to imitate 
artificially the wear of long use on a piece of furniture ; to do this at all 
well requires a great deal of patience and labour, neither of which he can 
afford unless he sacrifices his profit. 

Pieces of walnut furniture with mouldings or carving gilded should 
always be viewed with suspicion, as the enrichment of these parts by gilding 
is a favourite trick of the imitator, not only in order to give his pieces a more 
decorative value, but also to assist him in giving to them an appearance of 
age, as he finds it far easier to fake a gilded surface than one of wood. This 
modern gilding has its brightness dulled by the gold being rubbed off so 
that the red or white ground on which the gilding is laid shows through. 
A thin stain or wash darkened by colouring matter is then applied and 
allowed to remain in the interstices and background of the carving, and 
dust and dirt are also rubbed into these parts to darken them. ‘This 
artificial rubbing off of the gilding as a supposed sign of wear is generally 
too evenly executed, as old gilding will only be worn off and show the ground 
underneath where it has been constantly rubbed by the duster. For instance, 
the moulding around the panel doors of a bureau-bookcase is sometimes 
found gilt, and when original it will show wear on the bottom rails through 
being frequently dusted ; whereas, on the top-rails and styles, where it would 
be but seldom dusted, no wear on the gilt surface will be noticeable. The 
faker cannot afford time to consider what parts are likely to show wear more 
than others and treat them accordingly. He, therefore, gives to the whole 
surface a uniform appearance of wear. 

The surface of genuine gilding is covered with a fine network of cracks. 
On spurious pieces these cracks are imitated by cutting the surface of the 
gilding with a sharp knife, or scratching it with a pointed instrument. On 
careful comparison of the genuine with the spurious piece, the difference 
between these marks can easily be distinguished. Another feature of 

D 


50 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


modern gilding is that its surface is generally soft and sticky, whereas the 
genuine gilding is hard and dry. 

The mounts of spurious pieces also differ from the genuine mounts 
of the old example. As already mentioned, the original mounts were 
lacquered ; on spurious pieces, however, the mounts are unlacquered so 
that the brass can be dulled and toned down to give an appearance of age. 
Modern handles, therefore, tarnish through exposure to the atmosphere, 
whereas, the old handles being lacquered are much brighter in appearance. 
The modern drop-handle is sometimes found with the ends of the brass 
strip, that in the genuine handles are pressed into the back of the drawer, 
fixed with small brass-headed pins. When this improved method of fixing 
is met with, it denotes that the drop-handle is a modern one. The nuts that 
fix the bolts, on the inside of the drawer-front, of the loop-handle with a 
back-plate, when genuine, are very unequal and rough in appearance, having 
been made by hand. The modern handles, made by machinery, have these 
nuts equal in size and of a better finish. The ends of the bolts on the old 
handles are tapered to a point, whereas the modern bolts are cut off square 
and not tapered. The back-plates of the modern mounts are generally 
thicker than old ones; this refers, however, to the modern hand-made 
handle, and not to those stamped out by machinery, which are generally 
thin and much more accurate in the shaping. ‘The modern handle fits 
tightly in the slots of the bolts, whereas the old handles work easily and 
freely owing to wear. On a piece with its original drop-handles it will be 
seen that where the end of the handle touches the drawer-front there is a 
semicircular mark (Plate VIIIc). ‘The imitation of this on the spurious piece, 
although it will not be forgotten by the imitator, will not have the same 
convincing appearance, as he will not trouble to spend the necessary time 
in perfecting these slight and subtle signs of wear. On an original piece, 
say, of a cabinet door or the flap of a bureau, there is very often found a 
number of small indentations under the keyhole, caused by opening the 
lock with a key on a bunch, which has scratched and dented the surface of 
the wood just below the keyhole. Many other instances of the signs of wear 
on genuine pieces could be given. 

Besides pieces of new construction made out of old and new materials, 
plain walnut pieces are enhanced in value 300 or 400 per cent by enriching 
them with decoration. This is accomplished by inlaying their surfaces, or 
by the addition of carving; the former method will be dealt with more 
fully in Chapter V on Marquetry Furniture. The carved decoration is 
usually confined to enriching the backs of plain settees and chairs with 
shallow carved ornament which is glued on to the top of the existing veneer 
in a manner similar to the old examples, as described on page 34. This 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE 51 


method of giving value to a plain piege is, however, more usually found in 
eighteenth-century mahogany chairs and settees, of which there are far 
more examples than walnut. Mahogany, being a darker wood, is also better 
adapted to this deceit than the lighter coloured walnut, as it is easier to 
make the new carving look convincing. 

An ingenious fraud which is sometimes carried out in the case of chairs 
is that by which a set of three or four genuine chairs is converted into a set 
of six—a much more saleable number. If three new chairs were made, the 
difference between them and the old ones would be too noticeable, especially 
if the old and new chairs were examined side by side. The three old chairs, 
therefore, are taken to pieces and exactly the same quantity of new parts 
made. When the chairs are assembled, the old and new parts are amalga- 
mated so that each chair of the set of six has some parts that are old and 
some that are modern. For instance, each chair might have one genuine 
front and back leg, two old seat-rails, and either a new cresting with a genuine 
splat, or an old cresting with a modern splat. By this intermingling of old 
and new parts the deception is much harder to discern, especially when the 
intending purchaser is told that one or two of the chairs have been “ slightly 
restored.” 

The difference between the marks made by hand tools and modern 
wood-working machinery may also afford convincing evidence of the 
genuine or spurious character of a piece. In the age of walnut furniture 
only hand tools were available ; but the imitator frequently employs, for the 
sake of speed and economy, machine tools that leave distinctive marks upon 
the wood and so bear witness of modern workmanship. In the past the 
rough cutting of the timber was done with a pit-saw, the marks left by it 
being uneven and straight, but not always parallel, and the saw marks of 
the smaller hand-saw are similar, though finer and more even. The modern 
mechanical circular-saw leaves regular curved and parallel marks across the 
grain; and with the band-saw the marks are vertical, always parallel and 
close together. ‘These machine saw-marks in a crude form, can generally 
be seen on modern packing-cases where the wood has been left in a rough 
state and not “ cleaned off.” 

The imitator would not leave such saw marks on the exposed surfaces 
of a piece, but they are difficult to eradicate, and he will rarely go to the 
trouble and expense of wholly removing them from parts not generally seen, 
such as the framework of upholstered chairs, the undersides of stretchers 
and the insides of seat-rails, and also from the interior of the carcase of a 

iece. 
: In the same way the machine plane will leave distinctive marks on the 
surface of the wood, so that its use can be detected. The hand-plane takes 


52 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLaTe VIII 


(a) A stand with octagonal top overlaid with walnut veneer; stem and 
tripod base of pear wood, circa 1675. In the collection of Percival D. 
Griffiths, Esq. 


(5) A walnut tripod stand with tapered stem and scroll feet, circa 1695. 
In the collection of Sir William Plender, G.B.E. 


(c) An oblong table with oyster shell parquetry top, decorated with lines 
of box-wood in geometrical design. ‘Turned and twisted walnut legs 
connected by stretchers, circa 1675. In the collection of M. Harris, 
Esq. 


PLATE VIII 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE 53 


off long thin shavings, leaving the surface smooth and even; the machine- 
plane works with a scooping action which flicks off shavings about % inch 
in length, leaving very slight regular and parallel indentations along the 
surface. These hollows are not easily perceptible, but if the wood is viewed 
at an angle, with the light striking sideways along its surface, the ‘‘ waves ”’ 
can usually be seen, and they are always more apparent after the piece 
has been stained and polished. 

The mouldings, too, on an old piece, were worked by hand with various 
planes for the different members, and will be found to vary considerably 
in section at different points in their length. A template of the profile at 
one end of a hand-made moulding, when passed along its length, will fail 
to fit in a number of places. This irregularity is absent in those turned out 
by a moulding machine which again leaves regular indentations along the 
surface. ‘These marks of machine tools can only be removed by a lengthy 
and tedious process of rubbing down with glass-paper; but the faker 
rarely spends the time to do this properly as it makes too serious an inroad 
into his profit. 

The old veneer is found in thicknesses varying from ys inch to 
= inch, and was cut by hand with a pit-saw. The cutting is said to have 
been done by special workmen, who travelled from place to place visiting 
workshops once or twice during the year ; and the cabinet-makers reserved 
for these visits the selected pieces of wood from which they desired the 
veneer to be cut. The thickness of the modern veneer is about 2¢ inch 
to 7s inch, and it is cut with the machine circular-saw. 

It must be realized that just as there are degrees of quality in genuine 
pieces of furniture, so there is a variation in the quality of faked examples. 
Roughly, there are two markets for faked furniture, and the demand of each 
is supplied by two distinct types, the skilled artist and the commercial 
faker. ‘The former, whose work is ambitious and whose reward is con- 
siderable, aims at deceiving and entrapping the collector and the con- 
noisseur, He pits his brain and skill against the knowledge and experience 
of the expert. The limit of his endeavour, therefore, is fixed by the know- 
ledge which is common to them both. For this reason he will not make a 
Queen Anne cheval glass, because such a thing never existed, and he knows 
that the connoisseur is fully aware of this fact. Neither will he make a walnut 
china cabinet, because to manufacture such a piece with sufficient accuracy 
to deceive the knowledgeable collector would necessitate so much labour 
and entail so great an outlay that the profit would be negligible. His atten- 
tion, therefore, is concentrated on faking furniture which leaves as little 
room as possible for the discovery of his methods and tricks, and which at 
the same time, if genuine, would command a considerable price in the 


54 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


market. He therefore confines his attention to the production of such 
articles as chairs and settees, of which genuine examples are both rare and 
costly, but which from their design require very little expenditure of either 
labour or material. For instance, in the case of a chair or settee with the 
back, seat and arms upholstered, the legs and under-framing exposed to 
view would alone need the faker’s manipulation. The consequent low cost 
of the production of such pieces allows him to spend more time in perfect- 
ing them. He buys plain undecorated pieces, the value of which he con- 
siderably enhances, as already described, by introducing carved or inlaid 
ornamentation. Another of his efforts is to reconstruct parts of genuine 
pieces and transform them into something more valuable and more sale- 
able. 

The commercial faker, on the other hand, caters for a larger and less 
critical market, and is responsible for most of the fakes that are made. His 
is an organized trade run on commercial lines, and based on the ignorance 
and gullability of his customers. As opposed to the specializing efforts of 
the master faker, who makes comparatively few pieces for selected patrons 
at high prices, the commercial faker makes a large quantity and sells them at 
an extortionate profit, though not at a price which they would command 
were they genuine. The skilled faker, when successful, obtains the full 
value of the genuine piece which he has counterfeited. ‘The commercial 
faker floods the market with spurious walnut china cabinets, imitations of 
rare writing tables, small bureaux and early card tables inlaid with marquetry, 
all of which he makes as attractive as possible, and generally of a small size 
suitable for modern requirements. 

The design of these pieces is based on that of the rarest and most 
sought-after examples of walnut furniture. He excels in the manufacture 
of china cabinets, sometimes on a stand with turned legs connected by 
stretchers, sometimes with cupboards below. He gilds the mouldings 
and carving to enrich their appearance, which also simplifies his work, 
and invariably colours the interiors with oil paint, as has been previously 
pointed out. They are described as genuine examples of the rare William 
and Mary furniture, and are sold at a price wholely disproportionate to the 
cost of their production. In order to make his pieces more saleable the 
faker gives them an elaborate form, but having no genuine examples to 
follow, their proportion is bad, and their design but seldom true to the 
period to which they are supposed to belong, the desire to increase their 
selling possibilities outweighing any consideration for artistic truth. 

The bad proportion and design of a faked piece are sufficient in them- 
selves to betray it to the trained eye. Whereas, the old cabinet-makers 
quietly pursued their vocation on traditional lines slightly varied to suit 


SPURIOUS WALNUT FURNITURE ss 


the current fashion, the modern commercial faker to please his untutored 
clients does not scruple to break the canons of taste by designing and making 
a piece of furniture whose basic idea is borrowed from a bygone age, but 
which he fondly believes is improved by his innovations. For instance, 
he will make a small cabinet to suit the needs of his customers, with the 
domed top of a design borrowed from a bureau-bookcase, and he will mount 
it on a stand, the legs and stretchers of which he will copy from a rare 
William and Mary table, and he will decorate its surface with panels of 
marquetry. ‘This hybrid, ill-proportioned cabinet will, consequently, be 
the creation of his own fancy, a hotch-potch of borrowing and adaptation, . 
with no real likeness to any piece which existed at the time to which he 
will unblushingly claim that his fake belongs. 

From the foregoing description of the activities of the imitator, it can 
be realized to what length the imitation of old furniture is carried at the 
present day. 

The collector, after a short time spent in studying genuine examples 
will not find it very difficult to be able to distinguish the pieces of the com- 
mercial faker. ‘They all bear the same hall-mark. ‘Their surfaces are coated 
with polish and colouring matter which hides and obscures the wood and its 
figure. The colour is generally a muddy brown or yellow, sometimes with 
a greenish tinge, and there is a soft waxy feel, sticky to the touch, very 
unlike the hard, dry and smooth surface of an original piece. If these 
spurious pieces are seen in strong daylight or sunlight the semi-opaque 
coatings of polish on the surface of the wood can be seen distinctly. A 
similar examination of a genuine piece with a good patina will show that the 
polish or varnish on its surface is clear and transparent, not obscuring the 
figure of the wood in any way. When possible, pieces should be examined 
in daylight, as in artificial light this false patina is less noticeable. Any 
variation in the colour of a piece caused through modern additions or 
restorations can be more easily detected in daylight, as any new work will 
always vary in colour and surface condition from the original parts. For 
instance, if a new leg has been added to a chair, however well the restoration 
has been carried out, it will not be possible, either by bleaching, staining 
or polishing the wood, to give it exactly the same appearance. Besides 
making a rule of examining furniture in daylight, the collector should 
invariably make a point of closely examining the unexposed parts of a piece, 
for if he is doubtful about the genuineness of the patina on the polished 
parts, he is sure to find conclusive evidence on the unpolished portions to 
prove whether the piece is genuine or not. 

To distinguish a spurious piece by the skilled faker will require a much 
greater understanding of old pieces, as it will not be the piece of new 


56 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


construction that the collector has to fear so much as the old carcase 
reconstructed or veneered with old walnut veneer, and a plain piece 
newly decorated with carving or marquetry inlay. But here again, he will 
find “‘ patina ” and “‘ quality ” are his greatest safeguards. 

If the collector, as already suggested, forms a standard in his mind of 
those pieces that he buys, and adheres to the golden rule of forming his 
judgment of a piece on what he sees and not on what he hears, he will find 
it not as difficult to recognize the genuine piece as he did when he lacked 
a definite standard to work upon. The collector should remember that 
it is better to buy a perfect piece even at a high price than an imperfect 
one at a low price; if he does not buy the former he is sure to regret it ; 
but he is much more certain to regret it if he buys the latter. 


CHAPTER IV 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 
1660-1702 


LTHOUGH in France and the Low Countries during the six- 

teenth century walnut was the wood generally employed for 

-making the better class of furniture, it was but rarely used 

in England at that period. Long after the vogue for walnut 

had been established on the Continent, the English remained 

faithful to oak ; and it was not until the beginning of the reign of Charles IT 

that walnut wood was used to any extent for furniture in this country. 

This apparent reluctance on the part of the English craftsman to abandon 

the use of oak was primarily due to the scarcity of walnut wood in England 

during the reign of the Tudors, for it was not until Elizabeth’s time that 
walnut trees were introduced and planted in any quantity. 

Some writers, however, contend that a great deal of walnut furniture 
of English make was in existence at the end of the sixteenth century ; and 
that in fact all the best English pieces of that time were made of this wood ; 
the assumption being based on the fact that a considerable quantity of 
“‘ walnut-tree ’’ furniture is referred to in contemporary inventories of 
certain late Elizabethan houses. 

It has been pointed out that English furniture of the late seventeenth 
century, although to a large extent influenced by contemporary furniture of 
the Low Countries, always preserved its native characteristics, and this is 
even more true of English furniture during the Elizabethan epoch, for all 
the surviving oak furniture of that time has a distinctly indigenous cast, 
and differs in the handling and treatment of the carving and the quality of 
the workmanship, from contemporary foreign examples. The difference 
noticeable in the carving shows the Flemish work to be more carefully and 
skilfully rendered than it is in the best English work, which is treated in a 
broader and bolder manner, both as regards its design and execution. The 
individuality of the English piece can always be detected by the trained 
eye, and however great may be the similarity to a foreign piece it is this 
distinctive character of the English example that is certain to denote its 
provenience. 

57 


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> as ’ Se Ne y 
me om AN a i \ 
Soil 4 te te ek 
5 SCE a 
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ve ‘ mS ¢ 


RNITUR 


ne aes 


’ 


58 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FU 


_ 


PLaTE IX | ; | : 
(a) A walnut gate-legged table, circa 1690. In the collection of J. Thursby 
Pelham, Esq. so SG ee 


(0) A walnut | gate-legged table with octagonal top, decorated w t 
of herring-bone inlay, legs and under-framing of turned — 


design, circa 1680. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, 


" % a) a rh eo 
> s * oe ' 426 a. 
4 f 


PLATE 1X 


Pe yg, ay * 


ee 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 59 


Included amongst the quantity of Elizabethan furniture that has sur- 
vived are a few pieces made in walnut wood, and as these examples do not 
vary, either in design, treatment, or workmanship, from their contemporary 
prototypes in oak, and bear, also, the same English individuality, they 
may, without doubt, be properly designated as of English manufacture. 
These examples, owing to the scarcity of walnut wood in England, may 
have been made from foreign walnut, especially in view of the fact that 
foreign oak was being imported at this period for the wainscotting in the 
best houses, English oak being much coarser in grain and more difficult to 
work than the Continental varieties. ‘This certainly is true of several of 
these rare pieces of walnut, the wood being foreign and not English. These 
walnut examples are, however, so few in number compared with the large 
number of far more important examples in oak, that they form no criterion 
for the assumption that English walnut furniture was made in Elizabeth’s 
reign to the extent that has been suggested. 

For the enumeration of so much walnut furniture in certain late six- 
teenth-century inventories we shall find a valid explanation in the swarms 
of foreign craftsmen brought over by Henry VII and Henry VIII from 
France, Italy, Burgundy and Flanders to erect the new royal palaces of 
Sheen, Molesey and Nonsuch; and in their subsequent employment on 
the new palatial homes built by the Tudor nobles in emulation of their 
royal masters. The employment of foreign craftsmen was prevalent during 
the sixteenth century, and even as late as the first decade of the seventeenth 
century we find that Janivere, a French or Flemish woodworker, was 
making the wainscotting, chimneypieces, and other elaborate woodwork 
for Hatfield House. This and similar woodwork which has survived in a 
number of other contemporary houses in England, is distinctly foreign in 
character as regards its design and execution, the carving being of a very 
high quality and markedly superior to any contemporary English work. 
It is improbable, therefore, that the English noble, who went to the length 
of employing and bringing over foreign workmen, to carry out the elaborate 
structural decorations of his house, would be content to entrust to the 
native craftsman the making of the more important furniture for its adorn- 
ment. The present-day scarcity of English walnut furniture of the late 
sixteenth century, and the fact that these Elizabethan inventories relate to 
houses for the building of which foreign craftsmen are definitely known to 
have been employed, points to the conclusion that the walnut furniture in 
such houses was either the work of alien hands in this country, or that it 
was imported from abroad. 

That practically nothing now remains of this supposed wealth of 
English Elizabethan walnut furniture is hardly to be explained by the 


60 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


suggestion that walnut wood is more perishable than oak, in view of the 
quantity of contemporary French and Flemish walnut furniture extant. 
Probably more of it exists than is suspected, but it is now recognized 
as of foreign make and classified accordingly. Of such examples, known 
by existing records to have been made in this country, may be cited the 
pieces at Hardwick Hall, which are French in design and execution, and 
can be attributed to the foreign craftsmen employed by Bess of Hardwick 
on the various houses erected by her. 

It is significant that if walnut wood was ever adopted by the English 
cabinet-maker for furniture in the late sixteenth century, as is contended, it 
had but a fugitive vogue with no continuing tradition, its use dying out 
completely for the greater part of the seventeenth century, from the early 
years of James I to the Restoration, and that this cessation in its use co- 
incided with the rise of English architects and craftsmen, and the consequent 
disappearance of the imported foreign workmen. It cannot, therefore, be con- 
sidered inaccurate to assign the beginning of the English walnut period to 1660. 

The return of Charles II after the Commonwealth Interregnum meant 
not only the restoration of the Monarchy, but of the art life of the people. 
It must be remembered that the ordered progression by which the fashionable 
taste in furniture had spread from the Court, who were arbiters of taste 
and dispensers of fashion, down, through the nobility, to the houses of the 
middle and lower classes, was broken by the Civil War and the suppression 
of the Monarchy which had sent both the king and his followers into exile. 
During their involuntary sojourn abroad they had ample opportunity to 
appreciate the higher scale of domestic taste and comfort that they found 
on the Continent, and they returned with new ideas and standards of 
luxury for the refurnishing of their old homes. The change in English 
furniture brought about by this new incursion of foreign ideas was revolu- 
tionary, altering the material of which it was made from oak to walnut, 
breaking the continuity of the design and, as already described, affecting 
the methods of its construction. 

The two important foreign influences that brought about this change 
were those of the Dutch and the French. Of these the stronger was that 
of the Dutch, to whom the English craftsman, lacking a creative power of 
his own, had generally turned for inspiration, not only during the Eliza- 
bethan period, as has been seen, but also in the time of the Commonwealth, 
when the plain and simple lines of the furniture were adapted from con- 
temporary Dutch examples. 

The new vogue in furniture was fostered by the growth of luxury 
among the upper classes, who copied the costly fashions of the Court; so 
that early in the walnut period upholstered furniture, hitherto confined 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 61 


to the homes of the great nobles, had made an appearance in the houses of 
the well-to-do. The furniture of the middle and lower classes continued 
to be made in oak or fruit-wood, but its design gradually became affected 
by the new dispensation, so that at the beginning of the eighteenth century 
the oak furniture of even the provincial districts was following the lines of 
the walnut. 

The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV, in 1685, and the 
consequent exodus of the Huguenots from France to the neighbouring 
countries of England, Holland and Germany, also, indirectly, left its im- 
print on the design of English furniture. Many of these French immigrants 
were craftsmen, architects, designers and artists, and their art, imbued 
with the traditions of the School of design of Louis-Quatorze, was of so 
distinct a character that it was termed in these countries of refuge, “‘ le 
style refugié.” 

The accession of William and Mary to the English throne gave a fresh 
impetus to the Dutch influence, for the new king was not only a Dutchman 
by birth, but always maintained his predilection for the men and Arts of 
his native country. A foreigner at his accession, he remained one until his 
death. He had cold and repellent manners, combined with a gift of silence 
in the seven languages of which he was master ; but his more human instincts 
seemed to have found expression in a delight for the arts of architecture and 
decoration, of which he left concrete evidence in additions to Hampton 
Court Palace, and in the new palace that he built at Kensington. For these 
notable works he employed Sir Christopher Wren as architect, but the in- 
terior decoration and furnishing were mainly entrusted to one, Daniel Marot. 

Marot came of a family of French artists and craftsmen. Born about 
the middle of the seventeenth century, he was a pupil of Le Pautre, one 
of the originators of the Louis-Quatorze School of design. A Protestant, 
he took refuge in Holland in 1685, and entered the service of William of 
Orange, accompanying his Royal Master to England on the latter’s acces- 
sion to the English throne four years later. He was one of the chief 
exponents of “‘ /e style refugié,” and, although his work was strongly reminis- 
cent of the French style, it was modified by the Dutch environment in the 
early years of his involuntary exile. 

William III made Marot his Minister of Works, in which position his 
talents were mainly devoted to designing the interiors of rooms, which 
would include the chimneypieces, wainscotting, furniture and hangings. 
He also turned his attention to iron-work, gold and silver plate and garden 
architecture. His principal work in England was confined to that on which 
he was employed by the King, but it is more than probable that he received 
commissions from other wealthy clients for the decoration and furnishing 


62 


“eae ei ot ae Te ae sa 
‘ ‘ we 
. _ bas hd Ae 
. E < * OF b ; " ti 
so ria 
ra 


PLATE X 


A cabinet on stand decorated with floral marquetry of vaio 
woods and ivory, circa 1675. (The two centre back legs of th 
not original.) In the collection of M. Harris, ra ROE 


> 
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. a a ve 
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: CM a fe es Ly + 
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hy? 1S Be onl ' ; . 
2 > 


A es 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 63 


of their houses, and that he became the dictator and leader of fashionable 
taste during William’s reign. 

Little of the furniture actually designed by Marot now remains, apart 
from the beds, mirrors and a few remaining stools and chairs at Hampton 
Court Palace; but his influence on the design of English furniture of the 
William and Mary period and later is distinctly traceable in many of the 
pieces that have come down to us. The fusion of the Louis-Quatorze and 
Dutch styles, that we owe to Marot, endowed such English pieces with a 
richness of design and decorative value, that, despite their foreign feeling, 
give them a distinctive character. 


Under separate headings, the various articles of Stuart walnut furniture 
up to the end of the reign of William III are dealt with, in order to familiarize 
the collector with the genuine types he is likely to meet with to-day. 

As already mentioned walnut tables are rare, but chairs of this half of 
the walnut period have survived in greater number than any other article 
of furniture ; and there are many examples of such articles as cabinets and 
chest-with-drawers, but these are mostly in marquetry, or decorated with 
oyster-shell parquetry. In fact, most of the veneered furniture sur- 
viving from this first half of the period is decorated in either of these two 
methods, and the plain walnut examples belong mainly to the second half, 
which is treated in Chapter VI, to which the reader is also referred for 
particulars of articles first made in this early part of the period, but of which 
examples are more generally found, to-day, dating from-1700 onwards. As 
marquetry furniture is dealt with separately in Chapter V, the marquetry 
examples of the first half of the period are only briefly mentioned in the 
following notes. 


Cuairs, STOOLS, DAYBEDS AND COUCHES 


The chairs provide the earliest examples of walnut furniture, both in 
regard to the use of wood, and also the transition in design from the simple 
Cromwellian furniture to the more elaborate and decorative style of the 
reign of Charles II, From surviving examples it has been possible to trace 
a gradual evolution and unbroken continuity of design from the decade 
preceding the Restoration until the death of William III, and to follow 
various changes in form and detail as new motives were first introduced. By 
these transitional steps the typical features at various dates can be roughly 
classified as in the table given on the next page ; but it must be remem- 
bered that, with the great variety of detail, typical features of two or 
three different dates may be found on one chair, in which case its approxi- 
mate date will be that of the latest feature. 


64 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


TABLE SHOWING CHANGES IN DESIGN OF CHAIRS FROM 1650-1700 


Approx. date of 
introduction 


(1) 1650-60. Low oblong back ; spiral-twist rails, legs and stretchers. 
Similar in form to the “ Cromwellian”’ chairs. ‘The 
ball turning, typical of the latter, often found com- 
bined with the spiral-twist turning typical of the 
Carolean period. This type of chair is sometimes in 
walnut, but more often in beech or oak. 

(2) 1660. Spiral-twist rails, legs and stretchers. Coarse cane panel 
in seat and back. Back higher and squarer in shape, 
see Plate II (a). 

(3) 1663. Similar chair to (2), but cresting to back deeper and 
decorated with rosettes and foliage, and sometimes with 
crown. | 

(4) 1665. Similar to (3), but with carved front stretcher, generally 
similar to design of cresting, instead of spiral-twist 
stretcher, see Plate II (8). 

(5) 1667. Similar chair to (4), but with cresting of back and front 
stretcher decorated with amorini, supporting a crown. 
Side-rails to the cane panel in back decorated with 
carving, see Plate IJ] (bd). The carving in this type 
more finished, in higher relief and pierced. 

(6) 1670. Front legs have become scrolled, and the cresting of 
back, front stretcher and side-rails to cane panel 
decorated with “‘ S ” shaped scrolls. 

(7) 1670. Legs, stretchers and rails of turned baluster design in 
place of former spiral-twist, see Plate III (c). 

(8) 1675. Chairs with upholstered backs and seats having scroll 
legs and “‘S ”’ shaped scrolls to front stretcher. Back 
of chair made higher. Sometimes these chairs were 
made with padded wings to the back, being the fore- 
runner of the winged arm-chair. 

(9) 1675. Chair with upholstered seat, but back decorated with 
carved wooden splats instead of cane panel. Chairs 
also made of beech, painted black. 

(10) 1685. Chair with elaborately carved and pierced wooden back, 
upholstered seat on turned cupped legs connected by 
serpentine stretchers centred by a turned finial, see 
Plate IV (c). 


Typical Features 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 65 


le a ed : Typical Features 

(11) 1685. Chair with cresting to back supported on top of the 
uprights instead of between them. Back of chair 
made narrower. This type of chair found with back 
and seat filled with fine-mesh panels of cane (Plate 
IV (5) ), and also with carved splat back and up- 
holstered seat similar to (10). 

i242 169%. Chair after the style of Daniel Marot, cabriole front legs, 
connected by stretchers and ending in scroll feet. 
Fine-mesh caning in back; upholstered seat, see 
Plate VI (a). 

(13) 1700. Chair with curved or fiddle-shaped back having one 
centre splat carved and pierced. Cabriole front legs 
connected by stretchers and ending in scroll feet or 
pied-de-biche, see Plate VI (6). 


The changes of design indicated in the above table apply not only to 
the chairs and daybeds, but also to the underframing and legs of stools 
and couches, and cover the general run of all these articles at the approxi- 
mate dates given. 

The chairs, originally, were made in sets comprising, probably, two 
arm-chairs and six or twelve single chairs, as a far larger number of the 
latter are found to-day. Arm-chairs must also have been made in sets of 
six Or more, as several of such sets have survived. 

Single chairs are met with in pairs, but more frequently as solitary 
examples; and the arm-chairs are nearly always found singly, to meet with 
two or more of the same design being very unusual. From the quantity of 
chairs existing which have spiral-twist rails, and stretchers decorated with 
amorini supporting a crown, they would appear to have been made in large 
numbers. Of the other varieties, those with upholstered backs and seats, 
or with carved splats in the backs and upholstered seats, are both rarer 
to-day than the earlier examples with cane panels. ‘The most valuable 
chairs, however, are those with the elaborately carved backs, and those 
in the style of Daniel Marot. An arm-chair in the Marot taste is a 
great rarity, in fact, judging from its present scarcity, it could have 
been but seldom made. Pairs of the single chair are not uncommon, and 
sets of four or six are sometimes met with, but these sets are undoubtedly 
relics of larger sets extending to a dozen or more. 

To add to the comfort of chairs with cane seats they were usually fitted 
with loose upholstered squabs. For the upholstered types of Carolean 

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OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE © 


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PLATE XI 


A eabiner or wardrobe of architectural design deocenee with 
marquetry of various coloured woods, circa 1680. (This piec 
to have been made for James II when Duke of York 
collection of M. Harris, Esq. 


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STUART WALNUT FURNITURE ~ 67 


chair, damask and figured velvets were used for the coverings, which were 
further enriched by a trimming of deep, tassel fringe. Damask and velvet 
were also employed for the William and Mary chairs; but, in this period, 
needlework coverings, so popular from the next reign onwards, were some- 
times used. The original upholstery fabrics are seldom found on chairs 
to-day, but at Knole a number of specimens are preserved with their 
contemporary coverings of damask and Genoese velvet. 

A type of upholstered chair first introduced in the time of Charles II 
was the arm-chair with wings, and this variety has continued in favour 
up to the present day. The early Charles II and William and Mary examples 
are extremely rare, and were made with very high backs and boldly shaped 
wings and arms. 

Of the various stools of the period the early type had a cane seat, but 
examples of it are seldom met with. The stool with upholstered seat, 
dating from 1675, was originally made in sets numbering, perhaps, six, twelve 
or more. Another type of the upholstered stool has six legs instead of four ; 
this long variety, however, is only known by a few surviving examples. A 
few have also survived with eight legs instead of six, and are more in the 
nature of a long upholstered seat. These long seats or stools are confined 
to-day to historical mansions in which they have remained since the day 
they were made, such as the few specimens to be seen at Hampton Court 
Palace. The circular stool is another type of this period, and an example 
is shown in Plate XVII (c). Stools in the style of Daniel Marot are of great 
rarity, and although a number must have been made, few have survived. 

In addition to these chairs and stools in walnut, examples have 
survived of elm, chestnut and beech, the latter usually painted black. 

These articles will also be met with in oak, but the hardness of this 
wood made it less suitable for the elaborate carving, and it was, in conse- 
quence, seldom employed. 

The earlier type of Charles II daybed is that with a cresting to the 
back decorated with rosettes and a crown, and these early specimens have, 
on the two long sides, spiral-twist rails, which, about 1665, were super- 
seded by carved stretchers, thus following out the design of the con- 
temporary chairs. Some of these latter daybeds have the carved stretchers 
on one side only, this economy being adopted, presumably, when the 
daybed was intended to stand against a wall. Daybeds of about 1685, like 
the chairs, have the cresting of the back supported on the uprights, and the 
backs and seats are filled with fine mesh panels of cane. Daybeds of a design 
of a later date than this do not appear to have survived, and the last variety, 
which is the rarest of all, has eight legs instead of six. 

The back of the daybed was invariably made to hinge so that it could 


68 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


be raised or lowered by cords. Examples are sometimes found with two 
backs, one at each end ; these are much rarer and more highly prized to-day 
than those with the single back. Another variety of the daybed, of which 
a few examples are extant, has an upholstered seat and back and eight legs, 
but in this type the back was not adjustable. These upholstered daybeds 
appear to have been made up to the end of Queen Anne’s reign, from which 
period most of the surviving examples date. 

The high-back upholstered couch, the earliest specimens of which date 
from about 1675, is another piece of Stuart furniture which is of great 
rarity. In form these couches are like two arm-chairs placed side by side 
with the centre arms removed ; the legs and stretchers and arm supports, 
which are the only parts in wood showing, following out the design of the 
contemporary chairs. These couches were invariably made with the backs, 
seats and arms upholstered, as an example with a wooden back is not 
recorded ; although one or two very rare couches are extant with the 
upholstering of the backs framed in by a carved wooden rail. Such an 
example of the William and Mary period has survived of dimensions equal 
to three arm-chairs, and designed with legs and stretchers accordingly. 


PAINTED BEECH FURNITURE 


Chairs and stools of beech, painted black, have already been referred 
to, and from the number of such articles found to-day, they appear to have 
been made in very large numbers during the first half of the walnut period. 

This is all the more evident because beech, of all timbers used for 
furniture, is the most liable to attack by the worm, to the ravages of which 
many of the surviving pieces bear witness ; and it follows, that those which 
have come down to us can only be a tithe of the number originally made. 

The reason for the manufacture of this furniture in beech is some- 
what obscure. Beech has always been plentiful in England, and it is 
reasonable to suppose that furniture could be made of it at less cost than 
the fashionable walnut, to meet the demand of the less wealthy members 
of society of the late seventeenth century. Another explanation for this 
quantity of beech furniture was the scarcity of walnut wood in England at 
the time, so that beech was used as a suitable substitute in districts where 
the walnut was not obtainable. This type of painted beech furniture appears 
to have been first made about 1675, as the earlier Carolean chair, with 
spiral-twist turning and amorini, does not appear to have been made in beech, 
no example being recorded. The design of nearly all the beech chairs extant 
is that with turned-baluster supports and stretchers and scroll front legs. 
This beech furniture appears to have gone out of fashion by about 1695, 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 69 


as the surviving examples, in point of design, do not appear to be of a later 
date. Chairs of an elaborate nature, such as those with carved splats in the 
backs, were not made in beech, these more costly and high-quality examples 
being reserved for walnut. 

The reason for ceasing to make the beech furniture at this date may 
have been due to the importation of foreign walnut into England to meet 
the demand for walnut furniture, there being, therefore, no necessity to 
use beech as a substitute. 

Both single and arm-chairs have survived to-day, the former generally 
being of the variety with the narrow high back and small cane seat. 
Examples of stools and also of the early winged arm-chair in painted beech 
_are more frequently met with than their prototypes in walnut, which are 
to-day exceedingly scarce, especially as regards the winged arm-chair. 

The use of beech appears to have been confined mainly to chairs and 
stools, as a beech daybed or couch does not, so far, appear to have come 
to light. Tables were undoubtedly made in painted beech, as a few have 
survived ; and it is more than probable that a number of other articles 
ee made in this wood although not to the same extent as the chairs and 
Stools. 

On a few of these beech chairs and stools the carving has been enriched 
with gilding, but an example treated in this manner is seldom met with. 
Besides these partially-gilt pieces, a few suites, consisting of chairs and 
stools, made in beech, have survived, with their legs, stretchers and arms 
entirely gilt, and their backs and seats upholstered. 

The reason why this furniture was painted black, instead of being left 
in the natural wood and polished or varnished, is very difficult to account for, 
especially as a number of examples, mostly chairs, are extant treated in the 
latter way. Owing to their scarcity to-day in comparison to the painted 
examples, it is evident that it was the more general custom to paint this 
furniture instead of polishing it. 

The painted beech furniture to-day is, by no means, so valuable as the 
walnut, because the painted surface not only lacks the bronze-like patina 
of the latter, but the sharpness of the carving-is lost under the thickness of 
the paint. It has also a rather shabby look, the paint in many cases having 
become blistered and cracked ; and on the prominent parts of a chair, such 
as the arm or the top of the cresting, where it has been rubbed or handled, 
the paint will be worn away, disclosing the wood underneath. This last 
peculiarity rather enhances than mars its effect, besides being a sign that the 
piece is genuine, and has not been repainted within recent years. 

In some cases the paint has been removed and the wood stained and 
polished to imitate walnut, but this is never satisfactory, it being impossible 


70 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


to remove all traces of the black paint from the grain of the wood and the 
interstices of the carving. Pieces so treated are invariably muddy in colour 
and the surface condition new and raw in appearance. 


PRESENT CONDITION AND SPURIOUS IMITATIONS 


The collector who wishes to acquire specimens of Stuart walnut chairs 
will find numbers of genuine examples to choose from ; but he should make 
a point of confining his purchases to examples of good quality and patina. 
The former is specially noticeable in the execution of the carving, which 
on some will be coarse, whilst on others it will be finely wrought and more 
elaborate in design. This does not refer, however, to the earlier examples 
dating before 1665, which, as already mentioned, were cruder and coarser 
in execution than the later types. 

The patina of these Stuart chairs, stools and daybeds will be found 
of varying quality. On examples with good patina the walnut will have a 
highly-polished bronze-like appearance, the projecting portions of the 
carving being light in comparison with the parts in low relief, which are of 
a dark tone caused through the accumulation of dust and beeswax. It would 
appear, judging from surviving examples of this Stuart walnut furniture, 
that it was the custom to finish their surfaces not with polish, but with a 
coat of thin transparent varnish. Unfortunately a number have been coated 
with a thick opaque varnish, which differs very considerably from the 
original transparent variety, and has been applied most probably in the 
past for the purpose of renovation. Fortunately, the majority of these chairs, 
stools and daybeds have escaped depreciation at the hands of the French 
polisher, owing perhaps to the difficulty of successfully applying the polish 
on their carved stretchers and turned rails. 

The question of the amount of restoration that these articles have 
received naturally affects their present-day value; the following notes, there- 
fore, on the condition in which they are likely to be found by the collector, 
and, also, on the types which are frequently copied by the imitator to-day, 
may be found useful in arriving at a proper understanding of these pieces. 

Most genuine chairs of the type with the cane backs and seats will 
have had the caning renewed, particularly that of the seats ; the seat-rails 
will also often be found in a more or less restored state, but these necessary 
renewals do not decrease the value of an example to any great extent. The 
original caning can be recognized by its brittleness and the coarseness in the 
strands, which will be loose from wear. The modern caning will have finer 
and more pliable strands, and the new cane panels, which will be toned down 
with stain to give them an appearance of age, will be tightly stretched and 
unyielding. 


a 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE a1 


The part of a genuine chair that is most likely to have been restored 
is the front stretcher, owing to its exposed position and consequent liability 
to damage; and this defect will be found in both arm and single chairs, 
especially the former. As the design of these stretchers in most chairs 
corresponds with that of the cresting surmounting the back, the designing 
of a new stretcher presents no great difficulty to the imitator. This restora- 
tion depreciates the value of a chair, and special care should be taken to 
see whether there is any variation in the surface condition and colour of 
the wood of the front stretcher from the other parts of the chair. The 
piercings of the carving on both sides of the stretcher and the surface of the 
back should also be examined, as on an original stretcher the wood should 
be perfectly hard and smooth to the touch, due to long exposure to the air 
and deposits of dirt and wax from use and domestic polishing. In the 
modern imitations the piercings of the carving will be rough, and the 
surface condition sticky from the recent application of polish and coloured 
wax to give an antique appearance. The crevices of the carving should 
also be scrutinized for traces of dark-coloured polish which will have been 
applied as described on page 42; and the presence of new glue at the ends 
of the stretcher where it joins the legs should also arouse suspicion. To 
properly insert the tenons of the new stretcher into the mortice holes of the 
legs, the chair should be taken to pieces ; but the imitator rarely goes to 
this trouble, and by stretching or wedging the front legs of the chair apart 
as far as possible, will “‘ spring” the new stretcher into its place. It is 
impossible to do this with tenons which accurately fill the mortice holes, so 
one or both tenons are, consequently, cut away, and the spaces left in the 
mortices are filled in with wedges to keep the stretcher firm and in position. 
It is not possible for the imitator to make his new stretcher so perfect that 
it cannot be detected by careful scrutiny. 

Many of the Stuart arm-chairs will be found with a modern arm. 
The collector, to detect this restoration, should look for any variation in 
the shape or finish of the two arms, or in their surface condition and colour. 
The undersides of the arms should be also examined, for such parts, being 
hidden from view, the imitator will not usually go to the trouble of faking. 
The underside of a new arm will in consequence show signs of recent 
manufacture in comparison with a genuine one. 

Many fraudulent copies of Stuart walnut chairs, especialiy those with 
upholstered back and seat, are to be met with ; and the various tests given 
in Chapter III should be applied for their detection, especially the one 
regarding shrinkage in the mortice joints, which causes the chair to creak 
and give a little under pressure. All genuine chairs of the Stuart period, 
even if they have been restored, should respond to this test, and not be 


Prate XIE 
A writing-cabinet aan fall-down font decorated with floral marquetr 

coloured woods, circa 1695. (The mounts are not ue al.) 
collection of M. Harris, Esq. 


PLATE XII 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 73 


found rigid and unyielding. Another point in connection with the mortice 
joints of genuine Stuart chairs is the slight projection of the heads of the 
pegs, as described on page 47. It is practically impossible for the imitator 
to get the right colour and surface condition on the ends of new pegs, as, 
being cut across the grain, it is difficult to stain them to the requisite colour. 

Besides fraudulent sets of chairs the imitator also makes daybeds and 
couches, especially the latter, with the high upholstered back, turned legs 
and serpentine or carved stretchers. 

The imitator also turns his attention to making examples of these 
chairs, stools and couches in painted beech. In fact he prefers to work in 
this wood, as it is much easier to obtain an appearance of age on a painted 
surface than on one of polished walnut. He has made many spurious 
examples of the Charles II circular beech stool, also of the winged arm-chair 
with the high upholstered back, turned-baluster legs and rails, and an 
elaborately carved front stretcher. In making these beech imitations old 
material, obtained generally from Victorian beech bed-rails, is used. As 
has already been mentioned genuine beech furniture is invariably found 
to-day affected by the worm, and there are few genuine examples that do 
not show some traces of its ravages more particularly at the base of chair 
legs, which in many cases have been eaten away. Beech examples which 
are free from worm-holes should be viewed by the collector with suspicion, 
although the imitator, knowing this defect in his pieces, will sometimes 
remedy it by making artificial ones with a drill. Artificial worm-holes 
made in this manner, however, bear no relation to the condition of the 
wood inside, as in a genuine leg affected by the worm, the whole of the leg 
will become honeycombed with passages which will be filled with dust. 
The worm disliking the polish and glue, will, instead of coming out on the 
surface, continue to make burrows in the interior. As long as the outer 
surface of the leg is unbroken it will preserve some stability, but with the 
outer crust of the wood removed, the dust gradually filters down the borings 
and out of the external breach until the leg becomes a mere shell, which 
crumbles or collapses under strain or pressure. Worm-eaten wood when 
badly affected sounds hollow if tapped. 

The collector in order to detect these spurious examples of chairs, 
stools,* daybeds and couches both in beech and walnut, should not fail to 
examine the unpolished seat-rails of these articles. The wood of the rails 
should have, as already described, a dry mature look, be smooth to the 
touch and not sticky, nor exhibit any signs of bleaching with acids or 


* A number of spurious stools have been made out of the front legs of two single chairs. 
Some are found with upholstered seats, but a favourite type to be made in this manner is the early 
stool with the cane seat. 


74 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


staining. On the genuine beech chairs and stools these parts are left un- 
painted ; the imitator, however, in order to overcome the difficulty of 
giving them an appearance of age, paints their surfaces similar to the 
exposed parts. A feature of a genuine walnut or beech stool, which the 
imitator is not able to copy, is the patination of the inside seat-rails caused 
by the hand gripping them when the stool is moved. In the corners of 
the rails against the legs, where the fingers will not reach, the wood will 
be light in comparison with the handled parts midway between the legs. 
This feature can be better realized by comparing the undersides of the 
rails of a stool with those of a chair, which, being lifted by the back, will not 
have the rails patinated as described. 

In all upholstered furniture the number of tack marks on the frame- 
work and seat-rails may have some bearing on the genuine or spurious 
character of the piece, although it would be necessary to open up the existing 
upholstery to see these marks. If the chair or stool frame is seen stripped 
of its upholstery prior to the latter being renewed, it is well to take 
note of these tack marks, as, if few in number, there may be a 
suspicion that the piece is not as old as it purports to be. The presence 
of old sacking and webbing on the underside of an upholstered seat 
should not be regarded as a sign of genuineness, as the imitator can 
obtain plenty of such old material, which he invariably uses for the 
upholstery of his fraudulent pieces to give them a more convincing air 
of antiquity. 

Attention has already been directed to the similarity between English 
furniture of the first half of the walnut period and the contemporary Dutch 
furniture. This is specially marked in the case of chairs, as in contemporary 
Dutch pictures walnut chairs are shown of nearly identical design to the 

English ones. The spiral-twist turning 
fF of the English chair differs, however, 

' from that on the Dutch example, the 

English spiral-twist having the rope 
i Soy age ow span F . small and the hollow large, whereas the 
: foreign twist has the hollow small and 
DIAGRAM 10 rope large. ‘This difference can be 
eee PE Pea geuaas! Ere more readily appreciated by reference 

SRD El ENS TLE to the accompanying diagram, No. 10. 


fuist furning. The Dutch also favoured oval 

panels of cane in the backs of their 
chairs, whereas the English chairs had oblong panels. This rule is not 
invariable, but the percentage of foreign chairs with oval cane panels is 
much greater than with the English ones. There are, too, a much larger 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 7s 


number of foreign chairs with upholstered backs and seats than English 
examples. 

In addition to the Dutch chairs contemporary Italian and Spanish 
examples in walnut will be met with in England, mainly importations into 
this country in recent years to meet the demand for walnut furniture. 
They generally have upholstered backs and seats with a turned rail in front 
in place of the carved stretcher. This type with the turned-baluster front 
stretcher is but seldom found on English chairs. As shown on the table 
at the beginning of this chapter a spiral-twist front stretcher was in favour 
up to 1665, when it was superseded by the carved stretcher. The Italian 
examples of these chairs and stools are, generally, very light in colour owing 
to the walnut fading in the sunny clime of Italy. Foreign stools with turned 
rails, instead of the carved stretchers, are also met with. The collector 
should be able to recognize these types of foreign chairs and stools in order 
to avoid acquiring them in mistake for English examples, their value being 
considerably less. | 

Some French and Dutch walnut chairs of a design contemporary with 
the William and Mary period are met with in this country. These foreign 
examples are of a more elaborate design than the English chairs, some 
having cane panels in the backs and some elaborately carved splats. A 
favourite motif of design, often met with in the backs of these foreign 
examples, is a Roman head in a medallion ; this feature is never found on 
an English chair. These highly ornamented Dutch and French examples, 
unlike the plain foreign specimens mentioned above, are as valuable to-day 
as the contemporary English chairs, although they err on the side of 
over-elaboration, and lack the good taste of the more restrained English 
design. 


"TABLES 


The only Stuart walnut table of which any number has survived is the 
oblong table with veneered top on spiral-twist or baluster legs, similar to 
example, Plate VIII (c). The earliest of these tables does not appear to 
date before 1670, and the majority of them have four legs, but larger 
examples with five legs, similar to the one illustrated, will sometimes be met 
with. A drawer is invariably fitted in front, whilst the back is sometimes 
veneered, but more often left with the carcase disclosed, denoting that 
this type of table was originally intended to stand against the wall. The 
earlier examples have the spiral-twist legs connected by flat veneered 
stretchers. These were followed, as in the case of chairs and other leg 
furniture, by the baluster-turned legs. This type was in turn succeeded 


“6 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


by the turned-cupped leg. A few tables dating from the end of 
Charles the Second’s reign have the rare scroll leg with the serpentine 
stretcher (see Diagram 11); but very few examples with these legs 
are extant. 

This table with the spiral-twist legs is generally found to-day decorated 
with oyster-shell parquetry of laburnum wood, some- 
Ore: RGF times of olive ; and a number of examples will also be 
: 3 met within marquetry. The later tables with the turned- 

cupped legs are usually decorated 

with the straight-cut walnut veneer 

DIAGRAM 11. sometimes formed into panels with 

Scrol[ [es as foundon inlaid lines of box-wood. The legs of 

fhles Baker erate these tables were more often made 

= 3 - of elm or fruit-wood than walnut ; 

Cirea 16BOfo 17OO ana, in good quality examples, the 

front edges as well as the tops of the 

flat stretchers will be found veneered. 

In most tables, however, the front edge of the stretcher 

will be left unveneered like the back edge, these edges 
being formed by the deal foundation. 

A number of tables of this type will be met with 
in fruit-wood, oak or elm; these tables, being made in 
the solid wood with no veneer, could be produced at a 
lower cost and were made for a cheaper market. Many 
of them are of a later date than the design of the legs and stretchers would 
appear to indicate, for the reason that they were copies made in country 
districts of the expensive and fashionable veneered tables of a decade 
or two previous. 

The present-day condition of these tables shows them in varying 
states of repair. Generally the veneer of the top is either imperfect or 
blistered and raised, and the stretchers broken or lost; the last fate may 
also apply to the legs. These parts should accordingly be examined by 
the collector to determine how much the value of the table has been lessened 
by restoration. Many genuine examples will also have been depreciated by 
French polishing, whilst others will be coated with a thick varnish ; these 
tables, having the figure of the wood thus obscured, have lost their — 
decorative value. Spurious imitations of this table are usually confined 
to examples in marquetry, and these will be dealt with in the next 
chapter. , 

Judging from the quantity of these tables that has survived they are 
the only type that could have been made in any number up to the end of 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE ns 


the reign of William III. The gate-legged table, as already mentioned, is 
but rarely found in walnut, and this is remarkable considering that from 
1660-1700 it must have been the most usual form of domestic table, as so 
large a number of examples in oak are extant. The genuine walnut gate- 
legged table, when found, is generally of small dimensions, similar to 
Plate IX (a and 5). A few larger tables have survived, but these usually 
have their tops of oak or elm with their legs and stretchers only of walnut. 
Probably the extravagance of using large planks of walnut for the tops of 
such tables may be a reason why so few were made of this wood ; and 
although this difficulty could have been overcome by veneering the top, 
it would be necessary, to prevent the foundation warping, to veneer both 
sides, which would have added considerably to the cost. It is only by 
reviewing the technical difficulties that a possible solution of the inexplic- 
able scarcity of walnut gate-legged tables can be found. The majority of 
small gate-legged tables extant are either of oak or fruit-wood, such as 
pear, large tables not being possible in the fruit-woods, owing to the small 
size of the planks obtainable from these trees. 

Another Carolean walnut table is that with the folding top, similar to 
the marquetry example shown in Plate XIV. This type of table is found 
with spiral-twist, baluster, turned-cupped or tapered legs (as example 
illustrated), according to the date when it was made. 

A variation of this table, also found in walnut, is that with a hinged 
leaf, which instead of folding over on to the top, lets down similarly to the 
gate-legged table. Fewer examples of this type of table are extant than the 
one with the folding top. 

The collector who wishes to acquire a genuine walnut table of this 
period, unless very fortunate in his search, will have to confine his pur- 
chases to the oblong type with drawer, as the other varieties he will be less 
likely to meet with. 

The earliest walnut table made for the purpose of card playing would 
appear to be the one already described with folding top, as a few examples 
have survived with their tops covered with velvet. Another form of card 
table with a circular top was introduced in the reign of William ITI, and 
was supported on tapered legs connected by stretchers, as shown in example, 
Plate XXXI (a). The top of the table when closed was semicircular in shape, 
half the top being hinged, and this, when opened to the full circle, was 
supported on two of the back legs that pulled out after the manner of the 
gate-legged table. Small drawers were generally fitted in the freize of the 
table under the top. The collector who is desirous of purchasing such a 
table will find great difficulty in doing so, although the imitations of the 
commercial faker abound. 


78 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XIII 


A mirror in frame with hood, decorated with floral design marquetry in 
various colour and stained woods. ‘The cross-banded mouldings to 
the frame are of olive wood, circa 1680. In the collection of Percival 
D. Griffiths, Esq. 


PLATE XI! 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 79 


WRITING-CABINETS, BUREAUX, AND WRITING-T ABLES 


Pieces of domestic furniture designed specially for writing purposes 
were first made in this period. The earliest forms were the cabinet with 
fall-down front (see Plate XII) and the bureau-on-legs. 

In the writing-cabinet with fall-down front the lower part was com- 
posed of a chest-with-drawers,* as in the example shown. This piece was 
of typical Continental design, and its introduction into this country was 
prior to that of the bureau-on-legs, but whereas its popularity in England 
lasted only until about 1715, the same form of writing-cabinet continued 
to be made in Holland and France throughout the eighteenth century. 
The earliest examples of this cabinet, which would date about 1675, are 
usually found decorated with oyster-shell parquetry or marquetry. These 
parquetry and marquetry specimens are, however, much rarer than the 
examples in walnut, which are by no means rare to-day, many having 
survived both in the burr and the straight-cut walnut. It is, moreover, 
not a piece that is very highly valued, owing perhaps to its rather square 
and heavy design, and its unsuitability for writing purposes. 

The bureau-on-legs had two gates, similar in construction to those of 
the gate-legged table, for the support of the fall-down front, which, when 
opened, formed a surface for writing, and disclosed an interior fitted with 
small drawers and pigeon-holes for letters and papers. This design of a 
bureau was undoubtedly introduced from Holland, and the earliest examples 
do not appear to be of a date prior to 1680. The surviving specimens of 
this early bureau have either plain baluster-turned legs or the tapered and 
cupped legs of the William and Mary period, connected by stretchers of 
square section. This early type of bureau-on-legs is extremely rare to-day, 
and the majority of those extant are in the straight-cut walnut veneer, whilst 
two or three examples are known decorated in marquetry. 

That neither of the above articles are recorded as made in oak or fruit- 
wood points to the fact that they were pieces of furniture made for the 
_ houses of the wealthy and educated people, and not for the poorer classes, 
who would have no use for such articles. 

The bureau-on-legs was soon followed by the bureau mounted on a 
base with drawers, and the earliest examples of this type, judging from 
their désign, would seem to have been made about 1690. With this piece 
the fall is supported by runners which are pulled out from the carcase. 
Contemporary with the bureau-on-drawers was the bureau-bookcase, which 


* A few rare examples of this writing-cabinet mounted on stands with spiral-twist legs, 
connected by flat veneered stretchers, are extant. 


80 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


was the bureau-on-drawers with the addition of a bookcase surmounting it; 
but as most of these bureaux and bureau-bookcases date from 1700 onwards 
they will be dealt with in Chapter VI on the furniture of the second half 
of the walnut period. In this chapter will also be mentioned two other forms 
of writing-tables which were not introduced until the closing years of the 
seventeenth century. One is the small bureau-on-stand, similar to examples, 
Plate XXVII (a and bd), and is another variation of the bureau; the other 
is a form of writing-secretaire with knee-hole and let-down front similar 
to example, Plate XXXVI (a). 

The above articles of furniture were those introduced into England 
for writing purposes up to the death of William III, although there are 
other forms of writing-tables* which have survived from this period ; notably 
one supported on scroll legs which is at Kensington Palace, said to have 
been used by William III, and another marquetry table at Windsor Castle, 
made for him, which is a copy of a contemporary Louis XIV example. 
These rare examples cannot, however, be said to be typical pieces of this 
period. | 

Genuine examples of bureaux, secretaires, and writing-tables of the 
first half of the walnut period, with the exception of the secretaire with 
fall-down front, will be seldom met with to-day; and, unfortunately, 
many of the examples that have survived have had their patina destroyed by 
French polish. The attractiveness of the design of the early bureau-on- 
legs to the collector, and its suitability for writing purposes, has caused the 
commercial imitator to make many spurious examples, for which he finds 
a ready sale. These imitations are generally designed with spiral-twist legs, 
a type of leg which it is doubtful would ever be found on the genuine 
example, as it had declined in favour before the introduction of this bureau 
into England. The great scarcity of genuine examples of this bureau should 
make the collector suspicious of those that he meets with, in view of the 
abundance of spurious ones existing. Besides the bureau-on-legs the 
imitator also copies the small bureau-on-stand, as this is another decorative 
and readily saleable piece of the walnut period. 


CABINETS, CHINA CABINETS AND BOOKCASES 


The cabinet of the first half of the walnut period, of which any con- 
siderable number survive, is that with the solid doors enclosing a number 
of small drawers around a central cupboard. These cabinets were made 
mounted on stands, having either spiral-twist, baluster or scroll legs, 


* The table with folding top, similar to example in marquetry (Plate XIV), was also a table 
used for writing at this period. 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 81 


connected by flat veneered stretchers, whilst others were mounted on a 
base composed of drawers. They would appear to have been first made 
about 1670, and to have remained in favour until the end of William the 
Third’s reign, after which date their popularity waned and they were 
superseded by the lacquer cabinet. They are but seldom found in the 
straight-cut walnut veneer, being decorated generally either with oyster- 
shell parquetry or with marquetry. 

Larger cabinets of this type were also made on stands with five or six 
legs instead of four, similar to the example in marquetry, Plate X. Those 
with six legs generally have shelves in the interior, instead of the small 
drawers and central cupboard. 

Many of the smaller type, originally mounted on stands, are found 
to-day with the stands missing. In fact, this is generally the case, for while 
a surprising number have survived, considering the early period from 
which they date, only a few possess their original stands, the slender legs of 
the latter having, in most cases, been broken down by the weight of the 
cabinet. The collector who wishes to purchase a cabinet of this description 
should investigate the stand carefully, as within recent years a large number 
of these cabinets have had the missing stands renewed. The stand most 
frequently copied is that with the spiral-twist legs, and to recognize a 
spurious example particular examination should be made of the flat stretchers. 
The imitator will use old material for the foundation of these stretchers, 
as by so doing he will preserve the original surface on the underside. ‘The 
top and front edge of the stretcher he will cover with old or new veneer, 
but the back edge, which on an original stretcher will be left unveneered, 
has a freshly cut surface which must be faked to give it an appearance of age. 
In the majority of cases the imitator will avoid this difficulty by veneering 
the back edge. This would never be found on the genuine stretcher. 

The cabinet with small drawers in the interior was a much more 
favoured piece of furniture at this period than the walnut bookcase or 
china cabinet with shelves and a glazed front, as such pieces, dating from the 
time of Charles II to William III, are practically unknown to-day, only 
very few specimens having survived. 

To account for the scarcity of bookcases with glazed fronts, it must 
be remembered how few books there were in the average household of even 
the wealthy classes ; and that in the libraries of the large mansions of this 
time, books were housed in fitted bookcases, which were not separate 
articles of furniture, but built in with the wainscotting of the rooms. 
Although Queen Mary possessed the china cabinets specially made for her by 
Gerreit Johnson, and other wealthy people may have had similar cabinets, 


yet the number that were made at this period could only have been 
F 


82. OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


negligible, otherwise many more would have survived the vicissitudes of time. 
From the second half of the walnut period we have inherited a plain type of 
cabinet or bookcase which will be referred to in a later chapter. 

The demand of unwary collectors for walnut china cabinets has led to 
the making of so many spurious examples, that, if they were genuine survivals 
of the William and Mary period, it would imply not only that the china 
cabinet was one of the most popular articles of furniture at that time, but 
that hardly a household in the country was without one. This ready sale 
for china cabinets has also resulted in the importation of a number of 
Dutch examples, as the making of such cabinets in Holland, especially during 
the first half of the eighteenth century, does not appear to have been so 
restricted as in England. ‘These Dutch china cabinets have the fronts 
glazed with oblong panels of glass, and in some examples, the sides were 
canted and also glazed. ‘They are mounted on stands with turned or 
tapered legs connected by flat stretchers, or on a base with drawers. Usually 
they are of large dimensions, being 6 or 7 feet in width, and have a curved 
and shaped top, generally ornamented with coarse carving. These foreign 
cabinets, which have no counterpart in English furniture, will be found in 
walnut veneer and oak, whilst others will be decorated with coarse floral 
marquetry. ‘The interiors were often painted; this, as already noted, was 
an expedient never employed by the English cabinet-maker. 


CHESTS-WITH-DRAWERS AND CHESTS-ON-STANDS 


The earliest chest-with-drawers, like the cabinets, would appear to 
date from about 1670, and from this time up to 1685 the majority of the 
surviving examples are decorated with oyster-shell parquetry or with 
marquetry. Examples in walnut do not appear to have been much in favour 
before 1685, hardly any having survived. These early chests-with-drawers 
generally measure about 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches in width, and have five 
drawers, two small and three long. 

The above remarks concerning the chests-with-drawers also refer to 
the chests-with-drawers on stand. From about 1670-1685 the stands 
were low and were invariably designed with a shallow drawer, with three 
spiral-twist legs in front and two behind, connected by flat veneered 
stretchers, which were sometimes shaped. By about 1685 the design of 
the stand altered, having four legs in front instead of three, of the tapered 
or turned-cupped design, typical of the William and Mary furniture. 
These later chests-on-stands were higher than the early ones, and are 
found to-day in veneered walnut. The tops, being above the eye-level, 


STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 83 


were not veneered* as in the lower and earlier examples, but finished with 
a cornice. 

All these chests dating up to about 1695 will have the wide dovetail 
of Dutch appearance, similar to Diagram 2, also the half-round cross- 
banded moulding on the carcase round the drawer fronts, similar to 
Diagram 4. 

In Chapter V will be mentioned the examples decorated with mar- 
quetry, and in Chapter VI the further development of this article in the 
second half of the walnut period will be traced. 

The stands of these chests, like those of the cabinets, are usually found 
to-day imperfect, with the legs and stretchers missing, and the chest and 
the upper part of the stand, containing the shallow drawer, resting on the 
floor. Examples met with on complete stands should be scrutinized care- 
fully to see whether the latter are modern restorations. The remarks on 
page 81 concerning the veneer on the edges of the stretchers will apply 
also to these stands. 


TRIPOD STANDS 


In the earlier part of the walnut period the tripod foot as a support for 
tables was first introduced into England. The earliest example of a piece 
with this foot that survives to-day is a type of stand, similar to Plate VIII (a). 
The tops were generally octagonal in shape, and were of deal overlaid with 
walnut veneer. The stem has spiral-twist turning, similar to the example 
shown, and, together with the scroll feet, was, occasionally, made in walnut, 
but more generally of elm or fruit-wood. About 1690 the stem became 
tapered, similar to the small table illustrated, Plate VIII (5). All these early 
types of tripod stand are very Dutch in feeling, and a number of Dutch 
examples, sometimes decorated with coarse floral marquetry, with the 
tapered stem, will be met with in this country. The English examples, 
similar to those illustrated, are much rarer. 

This type of walnut stand has received considerable attention from 
the imitator, and he has made a number of fraudulent examples of the 
early type with the spiral-twist stem. ‘The collector should, therefore, in 
his search for a genuine specimen, realize its rarity, and view with suspicion 
all those that he encounters. 

The development of this tripod stand and table in the second half of 
the walnut period will be dealt with later, as after its introduction into 
England it became a very popular type of support for candlestands, tables, 


* Some transitional chests-on-stands will be found with the four legs in front and with the 
veneered top. 


bea” 
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84 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE — 


Prate XIV ae 


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panels. The two front centre legs swing forward to support th 
leaf of the top, circa 1695. In the collection of Sir William 


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STUART WALNUT FURNITURE 85 


and fire-screens. The tripod design persisted throughout the eighteenth 
century, undergoing various changes in treatment according to the current 
ruling fashions. 


BEDSTEADS 


The massive oak bedsteads of the preceding periods were undoubtedly 
used, and continued to be made, though of lighter design, in the first half 
of the walnut period. In Court circles in the time of Charles II, the oak 
bedstead was supplanted by the upholstered bed, which was a later develop- 
ment of the earlier examples of this type that was first introduced into 
England in the reign of James I, such as the upholstered beds at Knole. 

This bed, which was of the four-post variety, had no woodwork visible 
with the exception of the feet of the posts. The cornice, posts, and head- 
board had the upholstering fabric, generally of velvet or damask,* stretched 
and pasted over them, and the valances and curtains were trimmed with 
heavy fringe and galon. ‘The curtains at the foot hung round and hid 
from view the posts, which were plain, tapered and round in section, not 
being a decorative feature as in the oak bedsteads. 

In the reign of William III this upholstered State bedstead became 
more elaborate in character, and the height was increased to be propor- 
tionate to the taller rooms then in vogue. This development of the more 
elaborate and ornate bedstead was due in great measure to Daniel Marot, 
who was especially happy in his designs for upholstered work. Many of his 
published designs for bedsteads show great elaboration of detail, both in 
the hangings and in the elaborately carved and moulded cornices and head- 
boards. 

The four corners of the tester top were sometimes surmounted by 
plumes of ostrich feathers, whilst on other examples turned or carved vase- 
shaped finials covered with the upholstering fabric will be found. The 
hangings of the bedstead would be similar to the curtains of the room, 
the valances to the window-curtains being surmounted by a covered cornice 
similar in design to those of the bedstead. 

Practically the only bedsteads of the first half of the walnut period of 
which examples still exist are the State and Royal beds, similar to those 
preserved at Hampton Court Palace, and in other historical mansions, 
where they were reserved for the use of Royal and distinguished guests. 

This type of upholstered bedstead, however, set the fashion, and, 


* Bedsteads of this period also had their hangings of needlework. Some examples, extant, 
are of a very elaborate nature, the making of which must have involved considerable time and 
labour. 


86 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


towards the end of the century, smaller and less elaborate examples had begun 
to make their appearance in the houses of the wealthy. That so few 
specimens of these simpler upholstered beds are extant may be due to their 
destruction in the eighteenth century, when they became shabby or were 
superseded by the mahogany bedsteads, which, judging by the number of 
posts that have survived, must have been made in considerable numbers. 

The further development of this upholstered bed in the second half 
of the walnut period will be shown in Chapter VI. 


CHAPTER V 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE 
1670-1720 


ARQUETRY in this period was a decoration entirely in 
veneer, in which a design carried out in one or more coloured 
woods was inlaid into a background formed of another wood 
of a different colour. It differed from the marquetry of the 
Elizabethan age, which was not an inlay of veneers, but the 

inlay of a wood into a solid background. 

The veneered marquetry had no period of evolution or transition in 
England ; it was a Dutch craft brought into this country in a fully developed 
state. The earliest pieces of furniture decorated with it would appear from 
their design to have been made about 1670,* and as already commented 
upon, the marquetry examples, made from this date to about 1690, have 
survived in far larger numbers than those veneered with the plain walnut, 
with the exception of pieces of oyster-shell parquetry, which method of 
decoration was as much in favour between these dates as marquetry. It 
might be deduced from this predominance of furniture decorated with 
marquetry and oyster-shell parquetry over that in the plain walnut veneer 
that the last-named did not come much into vogue before William III 
ascended the throne. Such an assumption, based on the rarity of the plain 
walnut examples of a date prior to this, may, however, be erroneous ; and 
the survival in larger numbers of marquetry and parquetry pieces be 
attributable to the greater care and attention bestowed by past owners in 
appreciation of their more elaborate and decorative character. The theory that 
marquetry was of earlier date than the plain walnut, however, is supported 
by the fact that the former, being far more expensive to produce, was 
confined, on its introduction into England, to the patronage of the wealthy 


* Samuel Pepys writes in his Diary for the year 1664 about a visit he paid to the house in 
Lincoln’s Inn Fields of Mr. Povy, M.P., Treasurer for Tangier, where he saw one of the rooms 
floored with woods of several colours, ‘‘ Like the best cabinet work I ever saw.” This undoubtedly 
shows that the new fashion of inlaying woods was in vogue as early as 1664, and it is possible that 
furniture decorated with marquetry was made about this date, although from the design of 
surviving examples, none would appear to be so early. 


87 


83 


OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XV 


(a) A long-case clock with carcase of oak veneered with ebony and decorated 
with panels. Eight-day striking movement by Ahasuerus Fromanteel, 
with bolt and shutter maintaining power and crown-wheel escapement 
with short bob pendulum. Dial 84 ins., with silver hour circle. 
Height, 6 ft. 5 ins.: circa 1670. 


(5) A long-case clock with carcase of oak veneered with oyster-shell 
parquetry inlaid with stars. Eight-day striking movement by Thomas 
Tompion, with bolt-and-shutter maintaining power. Dial, 10 ins. 
square. Height, 6 ft. 6 ins.: circa 1675. 


(c) A long-case clock with carcase of oak veneered with ebony and decorated 
with panels. Mounts of brass, water gilt. Month movement by 
Joseph Knibb. The striking is on two bells, according to Roman 
notation, Silver skeleton hour and second circles with each minute 
number. Dial, 10 ins. square. Height, 6 ft. 11 ins.: circa 1695. 


The above clocks are in the collection of S. E. Prestige, Esq. 


PLATE XV 


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MARQUETRY FURNITURE 89 


classes, the less costly furniture in plain walnut making its appearance later 
to meet the demand of those not so well endowed. This is consistent with 
the evidence we possess in the examples surviving to-day, although it is 
impossible of proof; and, unfortunately, in the absence of authentic 
information in contemporary literature or records, the reasons underlying 
changes of fashion in the furniture of the past can only be surmised. No 
effort of imagination is required to realize the rich and gay effect of the 
marquetry furniture when new; that it became very fashionable amongst 
the rich of that day is amply proved by the number of examples that have 
survived. 

The design of the early marquetry which was copied from the Dutch 

was floral, depicting flowers in vases with birds. At first, it was confined 
in panels (see Plate X), but later the panels were discarded, and the 
marquetry was designed to cover the whole surface (see Plate XI). 
Floral marquetry in the last decade of the seventeenth century lost the 
strong Dutch influence of the earlier examples, the pattern being less 
sparse and the design more elaborate, sometimes exhibiting cupids and 
acanthus leaf scrolls amidst the flowers, a change attributable to the influence 
of Daniel Marot and his school of design. 
In the reign of William III two other varieties of marquetry, known 
as the seaweed and the arabesque, made their appearance. The former, 
as the name denotes, has a pattern representing the flowing floral lines of 
seaweed. It also resembles the finer leaves of the endive plant, and is, 
occasionally, therefore, called ‘‘ Endive Marquetry.”’ The arabesque variety 
was inspired by the brass and tortoise-shell designs of the French cabinet- 
maker, André Boule. A variant of the arabesque design is known as the 
“* Persian,” owing to the resemblance it bears to a pattern peculiar to the 
Persian carpet. 

Seaweed marquetry is generally found in panels, whereas, in the 
arabesque, the pattern is of the “all-over” type, and covers the whole 
surface. The seaweed type is more characteristically English than any of 
the other varieties, to all of which it is markedly superior, not only by reason 
of its restrained design, but on account of its greater decorative value. It 
supplies another instance of how the Englishman, having assimilated a 
foreign art, evolved his own interpretation of it, ultimately discarding what 
was not in consonance with his native taste. Seaweed marquetry went out 
of vogue in the first decade of the eighteenth century. The arabesque was 
the last phase of English marquetry, which declined in favour and became 
decadent by the end of Queen Anne’s reign, but lingered on until 1720. 

In all types of English marquetry the pattern was usually formed by 
inlaying light-coloured woods into a darker background of walnut or 


90 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


other dark-coloured woods, such as coromandel or lignum vite. The 
inlaying of dark-coloured woods into a lighter background was seldom 
resorted to, as by this arrangement the marquetry lost in decorative value. 
The woods used for the pattern in the floral marquetry were many, and 
from examples which are extant to-day, native woods that were plentiful 
would seem to have been commonly employed. Such woods were holly, 
apple, pear, sycamore, and yew. Bog oak and beech were also used. For 
the flowers natural coloured woods were chosen, such as orange, citron and 
red sanders or sandalwood. 

To add still further touches of colour to the floral marquetry and att 
to make it more realistic, the leaves of the flowers were dyed green. To 
give more emphasis to the pattern, the walnut background was sometimes 
stained to a black tone which, to-day, through exposure to the light, has 
faded to a rich dark brown. Ivory* was often employed for the petals of 
the smaller flowers, and also for the leaves, the latter being dyed a bright 
green.t 

In the seaweed and arabesque marquetry, holly and box were generally 
chosen for the pattern, but, for the early floral marquetry, box was not often 
used, probably owing to its scarcity in this country. ‘The reserves between 
the marquetry panels were sometimes filled with straight-cut walnut 
veneer, but in higher-quality examples these spaces would be decorated 
with oyster-shell parquetry, generally of laburnum wood. 

In making panels of marquetry, the design was first drawn out on thin 
tough paper ; and to make the necessary copies of it, the lines of the original 
drawing were afterwards pricked through. ‘The design thus perforated, 
was fastened down over another sheet of paper and a fine, coloured powder 
dusted over its surface, the dust penetrating the perforations and leaving 
an imprint of the pattern on the undersheet. Further copies were made 
in the same way as required. 

In the seaweed and arabesque varieties, where only two woods were 
used, one for the background and one for the pattern, two layers of veneer, 
one of a dark wood for the background and the other light for the pattern, 
were fixed together by glueing each on to a sheet of paper placed between 
them. The paper design was then pasted on to one side of these two veneers, 
and the marquetry cutter, guided by the lines on the design, proceeded with 
a fine saw to cut the pattern out of both sheets of veneer at one operation, 
after which the two layers were separated with a thin knife blade, splitting 


* Bone, as a substitute for ivory, will not be found on old English marquetry furniture, 
being unsuitable, as, having an “‘ open grain,” polish and dirt would tend to discolour it. 

+ The holly or box veneer was stained green in the sheet before it was cut. Ivory was, 
however, stained after it had been cut and glued on to the carcase of the piece. 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE QI 


the interleaved paper in two. It will be realized that the pattern had been 
cut out of both sheets; and that in the light wood was then fitted into the 
pattern spaces cut out of the dark wood forming the background. A piece 
of paper was then glued over the surface to hold the two together pre- 
paratory to the panel being glued on to the carcase of the piece of furniture. 

With the floral marquetry, where several different coloured woods 
were used in the design for the various flowers and birds, a different method 
had to be pursued. In this case the various portions of the design were 
cut separately from each other and from the background. For each flower, 
bird, or other ornament, a “‘ packet” of veneers of coloured woods would 
be glued together as already described ; the number of veneers in each 
packet being determined by the different coloured woods required. The 
patterns for various flowers, birds, and other ornaments were then cut out 
separately from prints of the design and pasted on to their respective packets 
of veneer. After the cutting of each packet the portions of the various 
veneers required in the design were placed in trays, preparatory to their 
being fitted into each other and into the background. 

The veins of leaves or the petals of a flower, when made out of one 
layer of veneer, were produced by saw-cuts, which were filled up with dark 
coloured wax to accentuate them. For instance, the bases of the vase on 
the doors of the cabinet, Plate X, are each formed from one piece of 
box. The gadroon moulding and acanthus foliage are delineated by saw- 
cuts in the veneer. This introduction of detail by means of the saw is 
typical of old English marquetry. Engraving or etching the surface, instead 
of cutting the veneer, was never employed at this period ; although in the 
late eighteenth century the inlaid work of the Adam or Sheraton Schools 
was treated in this manner. 

It is characteristic of floral marquetry that the pattern is never re- 
peated, although the balance of effect is maintained. In arabesque or 
seaweed marquetry of poor quality a panel will have both sides exactly 
symmetrical. On such a piece one-half of the pattern only would need to 
be cut in double layers of veneer, and these on being folded out formed the 
complete panel. By this method half the time and labour was saved in 
cutting the veneer and, also, in making the design. Sometimes a quarter 
of a panel was cut in eight layers of veneer, four for the pattern and four 
for the background, and these quarters when laid together made the com- 
plete panel. This labour-saving method of producing marquetry panels 
was seldom employed by the old marquetry cutters ; and when met with, 
to-day, is generally found on clock-cases decorated with late arabesque 
marquetry. 

The old marquetry cutter rarely utilized the “contra” or reverse 


92 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XVI 


(a) A long-case clock with carcase of oak decorated with floral marquetry 
of various coloured woods in panels. Month striking movement by 
Philip Corderoy. Dial, 104 ins. square. Height, 7 ft.6 ins.: circa 1685. 
In the collection of Sir John Prestige. 


(5) A long-case clock with carcase of oak, decorated with arabesque 
marquetry. Eight-day striking movement by Jeremiah Newbrough. 
Dial, 11 ins. square. Height, 6 ft. 10 ins.: circa 1705. In the collection 
of S. E. Prestige, Esq. 


(c) A long-case clock with carcase of oak overlaid with straight-cut walnut 
veneer. Eight-day striking movement by Benj. Gray and Just. Vulliamy. 
Dial, 12 ins. square. Height,7 ft.7 ins.: circa1750. Inthe collection of 
‘S. E. Prestige, Esq. 


PEATE XV 


Fy 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE 93 


veneers that were left over from the cutting of the seaweed or arabesque 
patterns. These produce a marquetry with a dark pattern on a light back- 
ground ; and such marquetry, when genuine, is usually found decorating 
pieces of a late date, when the art of the marquetry cutter was in its 
decadency. 

A method by which the light colour of the box or holly could be shaded 
so as to give depth to the pattern was by scorching the surface of these 
veneers. This was effected by placing the small pieces of veneer, or so 
much of them as required shading, in hot sand, and by this expedient the 
shading could be graduated in tone. 

After the veneering of the carcase with the marquetry had been com- 
pleted and the glue had become set, the surface was scraped and cleaned 
off, and well sand-papered down to make it smooth. It was then stained 
and polished like the walnut examples. 

The quality of old marquetry varies considerably. In the floral work 
the “ close-cutting ”’ of the pattern is a prominent feature of the high- 
quality piece. To effect this perfect fit of the veneers, the cutting, both in 
the background and the pattern, was done on the centre of the lines of the 
design. In cutting the outline of the flower, the saw was kept on the outer 
side of the centre of the line, and in cutting the space in the background, 
into which it was to fit, the saw-cut would be kept on the inner side of the 
centre of the line. The result was that no more than a hair crack was 
visible between the two when they were fitted together. From examples 
extant of Charles II marquetry this attention to close-cutting of the inlay 
could not have been considered in the same degree as it was in the later 
pieces. On marquetry, such as the seaweed and arabesque, and in the 
cutting of the small packets of veneers in the floral marquetry, such close- 
cutting was not possible, as the veneers being all cut together there would 
always be between them the thickness of the saw-cut. In arabesque or 
seaweed marquetry the edges of the scrolls and leaves should be clean- 
cut and accurate in the curves, whereas on poor examples they are jagged 
and the curves angular. 

Variation in quality in the execution of marquetry is specially notice- 
able when English and Dutch examples are compared. ‘The latter is 
coarser and the pattern does not fit closely to the background ; the design is 
more detached and has not the same graceful composition of the English 
example. Shading is more largely resorted to, and ivory inlay is also more 
lavishly used. The Dutch favoured the “ all-over ” style of marquetry, and 
but seldom placed their floral marquetry in panels. ‘This is more especially 
true of Dutch marquetry furniture of the eighteenth century, as an early 
type of coarse marquet-y, composed of a design of broad acanthus leaf 


94 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


scrolls, will sometimes be met with in panels. This type of Dutch marquetry 
often has birds, sometimes resembling eagles, introduced into its design, 
and, not unfrequently, it will be met with executed on a light background, 
which method the Dutch were not as averse from using as the English. 
Unlike the English, the Dutch continued to make floral marquetry right 
through the eighteenth century, its execution and design becoming more 
decadent as the century advanced. 

In a piece of untouched marquetry, the box or holly, originally of a 
light colour, will have assumed a deep mellow tone, which resembles the 
colour often seen on the bowl of a meerschaum pipe coloured by nicotine, 
and is caused through the toning of the polish or varnish by long exposure 
to the atmosphere. The box and holly inlay will also exhibit a number of 
small cracks which, owing to their having become filled with dirt and wax, 
are specially noticeable. The surface of the marquetry, through shrinkage 
of the foundation on which it is laid, will be wrinkled and cracked, and 
portions of it, through wear and bad usage, will often be missing, disclosing 
the carcase. When the inlay has become loose, dirt and dust will have 
lodged under its surface, and where the various pieces of inlaid veneer join 
each other, there will be seen protruding above the surface minute ridges 
of hardened glue. This latter feature is typical of marquetry when in its 
original state, as these ridges will have been removed if the surface has 
been repolished. In this case the mellow tone of the box or holly will have 
become lighter and of a brighter yellow colour, owing to the original varnish 
or polish being cleaned off preparatory to the application of the new polish. 

The beauty of old marquetry, to-day, as in the case of walnut furniture, 
depends to a great degree on the presence of patina; and a piece which has 
had its damaged marquetry restored, its blemishes removed, and surface 
coated with a high polish, can in no wise bear comparison with the piece 
that possesses its original surface, mellowed and patinated by time, and 
unharmed by the hand of the French polisher. 


SPURIOUS MARQUETRY FURNITURE 


Marquetry furniture, unfortunately, is not immune from the attentions 
of the faker. Not only does he make examples of entirely new construction, 
but he enhances in value old pieces of plain walnut by the addition of 
spurious inlay. 

The productions of the commercial faker are not of great account as, 
like his walnut furniture, they have but little in common with the genuine 
examples, either in patina, quality, or design. He generally employs sea- 
weed marquetry in panels which he produces in a time-saving, mechanical 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE 95 


aed thus rendering them easier to make than the floral or arabesque 
esigns, — 

The knowledge and ability of the collector will be tested, however, by 
the fraudulent marquetry of the skilled faker, who utilizes the floral, seaweed, 
and the arabesque types, and in his work follows out the methods of the old 
marquetry cutters. He is not able, however, to spend too much time in the 
production of his pieces, and the quality of their execution suffers accordingly. 
By one who understands old English marquetry and is familiar with the 
peculiarities inherent to the methods of the workmanship, and the degree 
of quality and finish which could be obtained when neither time nor labour 
were considered, the impostures of the imitator can be recognized without 
difficulty. 

Some of the principal points in which the modern work differs from 
the old can be briefly stated. The modern marquetry will lack the “ close- 
cutting ” of the old ; it will also be more stereotyped and regular in appear- 
ance, exhibiting none of the individual conceits so often found in the work 
of the old craftsmen. The leaves which in the old floral marquetry were 
cut separately from the stems will, in modern work, often be found in one 
with them. 

Seaweed marquetry with its series of fine scrolls is a severe test of the 
capabilities of the modern marquetry cutter. Being the most difficult and 
expensive of all types of marquetry to cut, the tendency of the imitator is 
to simplify this design by reducing the amount of pattern, making the 
scrolls larger, the fronds of the seaweed broader and more regular, and 
eliminating the minute offshoots of the foliage. In the old work, similar 
to that on the table top, Plate XIV, the ends of the fronds or scrolls are 
slightly rounded, the delicate rounding enabling the cutter to turn his saw 
more easily around the points. This refinement is generally disregarded 
in the modern work, the fronds ending in a point around which the cutter 
is unable to work his saw without making a hole or dent, which becomes 
more prominent when filled with the stain and wax afterwards used in 
polishing. 

Unless a prodigious amount of labour is expended, it is not possible 
for the modern work to exhibit the fine tracery of the old; and the faker 
with a lively sense of the collector’s deficient understanding of the qualities 
in the old marquetry does not consider it necessary to put the amount of 
detail into his work that would tend to avert detection. Cutting the veneers 
in double or quadruple thicknesses which, when opened out, form the 
complete panel, is one method much favoured by the imitator for reducing 
his labour. The “ contra” or reverse veneers resulting from the cutting 
are also used for a second piece of furniture, which is the reason why so 


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96 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XVII 


(a) A walnut stool, circa 1715. In the collection of Percival D. Grifiths. “ 


(b) A walnut stool, circa 1735. In the collection of Percival D. Griffith 


(c) A circular walnut stool, circa 1695. In the collection of Si 
Plender, G.B.E. aS ee 


ae oval walnut stool circa 1715. In the collection of ¥ 
Griffiths. : : | ow eae 


PEATE VIL 


> 
’ 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE 97 


many of the spurious pieces exhibit marquetry with a dark pattern on a 
light background. 

In pieces of new construction, old material will be employed for the 
carcase work, and genuine walnut veneer, obtained from derelict specimens, 
for the general surfacing. ‘The enhancing in value of genuine pieces of plain 
walnut furniture by inlaying their surfaces with spurious marquetry, is a 
deception which the imitator has carried out on many genuine articles, such 
as secretaires with fall-down fronts, long-case clocks, chests-with-drawers, 
bureaux, and mirror frames, in fact any plain walnut piece that he considers 
can be increased in value successfully by this treatment. His method in 
this direction is to cut out pieces of the genuine walnut veneer and to fill 
in the vacant spaces with spurious marquetry panels. ‘There are several 
advantages for the faker in this class of deception, because he is able to 
retain the carcase and cross-banded mouldings of the old piece and all its 
original veneer, except where the latter has been cut away. The modern 
veneer, as previously mentioned, is thinner than the old, and a thick backing 
of glue is required to bring the new panel flush with the surrounding veneer. 
As, however, the new panels are usually cleaned off and polished by the 
faker before the glue is set, they will afterwards sink, and in consequence 
will be on a slightly lower level than the original surface. Not only 
should the collector carefully examine the marquetry panels of a piece for 
this defect, but he should compare the surface of the marquetry with that of 
the surrounding walnut. If the marquetry panels are new, their surfaces 
will be comparatively free from dents and scratches, and in striking contrast 
to the old blemished surface of the original veneer. Occasionally some 
ineradicable defect, such as a deep scratch, ink-stain, pot-ring or burn on the 
table or chest top, will be cut through and ended in a very abrupt manner 
by a marquetry panel, and in such cases there can be little doubt that the 
piece and its marquetry panels are not contemporary. 

As already mentioned, old pieces with drawers may, in the course of 
their existence, have been fitted with two or three sets of handles, for which 
the drawer fronts will have been pierced in different places. But pieces 
decorated with marquetry panels on the drawer fronts will sometimes be 
found, where the back of a drawer front will disclose one or two holes made 
for former handles without there being any corresponding piercings through 
the marquetry panels on the front ; the imitator having either forgotten to 
make the additional piercings or been loathe to spoil the appearance of his 
new marquetry. 

The faker’s greatest stumbling-block is the turning of the new light 
woods to the deep and mellow shade of the old. In order to do this he has 
to rely on coloured polish and dirted wax, and if this toning is too sparingly 

G 


98 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


done, the wood will be too light and new in appearance. If overdone, 
which is more usual, the box or holly has a clouded and painted appearance, 
very different from the clear brilliancy of the genuine piece. It is impossible, 
owing to the hardness of these light-coloured woods, to tone them except 
in this way ;. for whatever is applied does not sink in, but remains on the 
surface, and, consequently, obscures and hides the wood. ‘These heavy 
coatings of polish and wax can be seen distinctly on the light parts of the 
marquetry design when it is examined in a good light. A number of these 
fraudulent marquetry pieces are varnished, for the skilled imitator finds 
that by treating them in this manner he can obtain a closer resemblance 
to the genuine example ; the varnish giving greater clarity and a less painted 
effect. 

Another important divergence between the genuine and spurious 
marquetry is the absence of the little ridges of hardened glue protruding 
from the joints of the inlay, as already described. Polish, dirt and darkened 
wax are used to fill up these joints; but this filling sinks in after a short 
time, leaving a distinct furrow between the veneers. When detected, this 
feature should, in itself, arouse suspicion. 

The smooth, even surface of the fraudulent piece is in striking contrast 
to the blemished surface of the original one, and this will be specially 
evident if the hand is passed over old marquetry when in an original state. 
To obviate the smooth surface of his pieces the faker will blister and buckle 
the veneer by damping and applying a hot iron, as already mentioned. 


An original table top or cabinet door will generally be found split owing | 


to shrinkage. This defect will not occur in a spurious piece if old material 
has been used for its carcase ; but when, as sometimes happens, the imitator 
makes the carcase from new material, a split will occur in the veneer before 
many months have passed. On an original piece the crack, which will be 
many years old, will be filled with dirt and dust, and the once sharp edges 
of the veneer will be worn away. In the spurious piece the split edges of 
the veneer will be sharp, and the crack free from dust, and where the latter 
traverses the holly or box veneer, it will disclose the light colour of the new 
wood, very different in contrast to the artificially-toned appearance of its 
top surface. On a genuine piece the holly or box where split will be a dark 
tone through the accumulation of dirt and wax. 


“ 


CHAIRS 


English chairs were seldom decorated with marquetry, and examples 
treated in this manner date from the first twenty years of the eighteenth 
century, and are usually of the type with the hooped back and shaped splat. 


ER Cy a Ca ORS eu ee bs 
ee ee Ne eee a ee ee Ol, a i ee ide. 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE 99 


The decoration is nearly always confined to small panels on the splats and 
on the knees of the cabriole leg, and sometimes a small panel of marquetry 
is found decorating the front seat-rail. Arabesque was the variety invariably 
used, and a favoured custom was the inlaying of an entwined and reversed 
monogram on the splats of the chairs; the delineation of a monogram in 
this manner being much in vogue at this period. Other chairs of this time 
have their splats inlaid with heraldic devices. 

The hooped-back chair with cabriole legs, so often found in England 
decorated with floral marquetry, not only on the splat, side-rails and 
seat-rails, but, in some examples, even on the front legs, is not of English 
but Dutch origin. Compared with English chairs, showing a precise and 
restrained use of marquetry, these over-decorated Dutch examples are 
in bad taste. 

The imitator makes spurious chairs decorated with small marquetry 
panels, as these will give him less trouble to fake than carved ornament. 
He has also been known to inlay new panels of marquetry into genuine 
walnut chairs, and would no doubt have done much more in this direction, 
but for the scarcity of the genuine chair. The collector should not fail 
to scrutinize the marquetry panels on any chair that he meets with, to make 
certain that they have not been added within recent years. 


‘TABLES 


The oblong table with drawer, described in the previous chapter, is 
not an unusually rare piece to find decorated with marquetry. A number 
of examples have survived with floral marquetry of the early type and 
spiral-twist legs. ‘The later type on scroll legs with floral or seaweed 
marquetry is much rarer and far more valuable, to-day, than any other 
variety of this table. 

The present condition of these marquetry tables is similar to that of 
the contemporary examples in oyster-shell parquetry or walnut as described 
on page 76. The marquetry example, however, differs in one respect in 
that the top of the table will often have pieces of the inlay entirely missing. 
Many such tables, once in this condition, have been restored, but owing 
to the difficulty of matching the new parts with the old, the old will be 
made to match the new by repolishing the whole top. This naturally involves 
the destruction of the patina. The imitator has found the reproduction of 
this table, decorated with marquetry, a very remunerative business, and he 
has accordingly made many fraudulent examples from old material, using 
old walnut veneer for the background of the marquetry. Many of these 
spurious tables are decorated with seaweed marquetry in panels and 


PLATE XVIII 


(6) A winged arm-chair with walnut cabriole legs, upholstered in its original 
gros point needlework covering, circa 1715. (The back of this chair is 
made to raise and lower by means of a ratchet.) In the collection - . 
Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. ms 


(a) A walnut barber’s chair with all four legs Rae and knee of fr 
See with shell, circa 1720. In the collection of Sir Wr a0 
B.E 


PLATE XVill 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE IOI 


have the rare scroll leg, as this leg not only makes the table more 
saleable, but it is easier to reproduce owing to its surface being veneered. 
For the veneering of these legs the skilled faker will use old veneer, but 
the backs of the legs, as in the genuine examples, he will leave unveneered. 
The freshly cut deal or pine exposed on this part has, therefore, to be faked, 
and the collector should make a point of carefully examining these un- 
veneered portions for any signs of staining or colouring. Such parts on 
the genuine leg will have the dry look of the mature wood, and be smooth 
and not sticky to the touch. The rarity of the genuine marquetry table 
with the scroll leg, and the incommensurable number of fraudulent examples 
of this type, should, alone, make the collector pause before buying a table 
of this description without very careful examination on the lines already 
indicated. 

Another difference between the fraudulent table and the old is that 
the tops of nine out of every ten genuine tables will have one or more cracks 
lengthways across the surface, caused througi the marquetry splitting by 
the shrinkage of the carcase. As already mentioned, such defects are not 
likely to be found on the spurious example, and the notes on page 98, in 
connection with these cracks when they do occur, should also be remembered 
by the collector when he examines a table of this description. 

Besides the spurious examples of this table, the collector must also be 
wary of purchasing a contemporary Dutch table at the price of an English 
one, as the former are not so valuable. The Dutch tables are heavier in 
design and of larger dimensions, their legs and stretchers being thicker 
and not so refined in feeling. The tops also are thicker, and their edges, 
instead of being cross-banded with walnut, are decorated with alternating 
inlaid pieces of dark and light wood, or sometimes of ivory and ebony. 

Other types of tables decorated with marquetry are but seldom met 
with to-day, and unless specially favoured by fortune, the oblong table is 
the only genuine English marquetry table the collector is likely to meet 
with. It must not be inferred, however, from this scarcity that other types 
of marquetry tables were not made, but rather that they were not so fashion- 
able or popular as the oblong variety. An example of a rare type of table 
to be found in marquetry is shown in Plate XIV. 

The discovery of a genuine marquetry card table does not appear to 
have been recorded. The commercial imitator has, however, supplied the 
demands of the unconversant collector by the production of scores of such 
tables decorated, usually, with seaweed marquetry in panels. The cloudy 
and muddy appearance of these pieces with their artificial painted patina 
does not require much perspicuity to detect, even were the collector unaware 
that the existence of genuine examples of such card tables is doubtful. 


102 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


CABINETS 


As already mentioned, the cabinet-with-doors mounted on a stand 
or base with drawers, dating from the first half of the walnut period, is 
often met with in marquetry, and the note given in the last chapter on the 
design and rarity of the stands applies also to marquetry examples. 

The small drawers in the interiors of these cabinets will have their 
fronts decorated with marquetry ; and the insides of the doors and the sides 
of the cabinets will also be treated with this decoration. ‘The colour of the 
wood on the fronts of the interior drawers and the inside of the doors will 
in many cabinets be found to vary from that on the exterior; the light- 
coloured woods on the outside will have the deep mellow tone already 
described, whereas inside the cabinet they will usually be much lighter 
and fresher in appearance. ‘This is due to the varnish or polish, not being 
exposed to the atmosphere, remaining unchanged. 

Larger examples of these cabinets, similar to the one illustrated, Plate 
X, are more usually met with in marquetry, and not in oyster-shell 
parquetry. The early examples of this cabinet, both large and small, were 
decorated with floral. marquetry, the doors being divided up into small 
panels, and the reserves between the panels filled with oyster-shell par- 
quetry either of laburnum or olive wood, and occasionally with straight-cut 
walnut veneer. In these floral marquetry examples it will be noticed that 
the panels of marquetry, even on the small drawers in the interior of the 
cabinet, are all of different design. ‘The fact that the designs were never 
repeated shows what painstaking care was devoted to making the best 
furniture of this period. These cabinets are seldom found to-day decorated 
with seaweed marquetry, and like the tables, very few are extant on stands 
with the rare scroll legs. 

A few other cabinets of unusual design decorated with marquetry have 
survived, but in such small numbers that they cannot be regarded as standard 
types of which many examples were made, like the cabinets already described. 
One of these rare pieces, the cabinet or wardrobe reputed to have been made 
for James II when Duke of York, is shown in Plate XI. The marquetry 
is of exceptionally high quality, and the piece lavishly inlaid without regard 
to cost. Both in design and execution this cabinet is English in character,* 
yet, as its date is about 1680, it is unlikely, in the short time marquetry 
had been in vogue at this date, that an English craftsman could have become 
sufficiently skilled in the art of marquetry cutting as to produce such an 
elaborate and finished piece. It was probably, therefore, the work of Dutch 


* As a further proof of the English provenience of this piece the locks, which are the original 
ones, are English. — . 


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MARQUETRY FURNITURE 103 


craftsmen, resident in this country. At the same time the support of the 
massive cabinet on arcading, resting on the four ball feet in front, is un- 
gainly, and the effect is not good in proportion. It would suggest that the 
designer’s original intention was to mount the cabinet on a stand, but 
finding the piece would be too heavy, altered his design, as the construction 
shows no evidence of there having been any legs, and the ball feet are 
contemporary. 

So far as the imitator is concerned, these marquetry cabinets will not 
be found of entirely new construction, for they involve so much labour in 
their production that it would not pay to make them. As already mentioned, 
very few were made in the straight-cut walnut, so that examples enhanced 
in value by the addition of spurious marquetry panels are less likely to be 
met with. 

Of china cabinets or bookcases with glazed fronts decorated with 
marquetry, no genuine English examples are known to exist ; although the 
commercial faker, whose walnut china cabinets have already been com- 
mented upon, often varies their design by making specimens inlaid with 
marquetry panels. The Dutch walnut china cabinets, as already described 
on page 82, will be met with in marquetry, and these should not 
be mistaken for English examples. The marquetry which decorates these 
eighteenth-century cabinets is generally of floral design, coarsely and poorly 
executed, and is not in panels but covers the whole of the cupboard doors 
or drawer-fronts. ‘The light woods of this Dutch marquetry are HEE 
of a bright yellow colour and garish in appearance. 


SECRETAIRES AND WRITING-BUREAUX 


The secretaire with the fall-down front, introduced into England about 
1675, and described in the last chapter, is the only piece of furniture 
decorated with marquetry made for writing purposes, of which a number 
of examples have survived, although these marquetry secretaires are out- 
numbered by the examples of the marquetry cabinet with solid doors just 
described. ‘These secretaires are found decorated in panels both with the 
early floral marquetry and also with the later seaweed variety. 

As already mentioned, a number of spurious examples of the secretaire 
have been made in recent years by enhancing the genuine plain walnut 
ones with marquetry panels. Such examples the collector should be careful 
to avoid purchasing. 

Examples of the early bureaux-on-legs, decorated with seaweed and 
arabesque marquetry, have also survived, but rare as are the plain walnut 
examples of this bureau, the marquetry examples are still rarer. To enrich 


OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XIX 


(6) A walnut arm-chair, with back and seat rail overlaid with burr walnut i 
veneer, on to which has been applied carved decoration in low reli 
circa 1725. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, eek 


™s., 
, 


(a) A walnut chair with back and seat-rail overlaid with bu 
veneer, and with unusual moulded seat rail and carved ap 
circa 1725. In the collection of C. D. Rotch, Esq. eS 


. 
.-> Rag 
- re - Rs as 
— £ «16> @. <: 
4 Ch ee : 
4 f uP tp. 1 aes A is 
i af 7 ie ey 
Oe 


PLATE XIX 


B 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE 105 


his copies of the early bureau-on-legs, the imitator will sometimes decorate 
them with panels of seaweed marquetry. 

Of the bureau-on-drawers, and the bureau-bookcase, only a few 
specimens in marquetry are extant, and these are decorated with panels of 
the seaweed variety. No example of either of these articles decorated with 
floral designs is recorded, for the reason that these pieces were only intro- 
duced into England when the floral marquetry was on the wane. Many 
Dutch bureaux-on-drawers will, however, be met with, decorated with the 
characteristic coarse marquetry of floral design. These examples date from 
the middle of the eighteenth century or later, for the Dutch, as already noted, 
continued to make marquetry furniture long after it had gone out of fashion 
in England. The Dutch bureaux are usually of much larger dimensions 
than the English, and the lower part occasionally has the bombé, or swelled 
front, that is so typical of the eighteenth-century Dutch furniture. 

A number of genuine walnut bureaux and bureau-bookcases have been 
converted into marquetry examples within recent years, and this fact should 
be remembered by the collector when he meets with either of these pieces 
decorated with inlay. 

The small bureau-on-stand decorated with marquetry would be a very 
rare find to-day, for although such pieces must doubtless have been made, 
the existence of one does not appear to be known. Many of the fraudulent 
examples of the imitator, are, however, decorated with seaweed marquetry. 

The secretaire with knee-hole and let-down front would also be a very 
rare piece if found in marquetry. Plain examples, which have been en- 
hanced with spurious marquetry panels, are more likely to be met with 
to-day than the genuine specimen. 


CHESTS-WITH-DRAWERS AND CHESTS-ON-STANDS 


Chests-with-drawers, like the other marquetry furniture, were decorated 
with floral marquetry in panels, floral marquetry of the “ all-over ’”’ type, 
seaweed marquetry in panels, and late examples in the arabesque marquetry, 
according to the varying fashions between 1670 and 1700. The marquetry 
chest-on-stand does not appear to have been made after 1690, and, there- 
fore, examples with seaweed or arabesque marquetry are not likely to be 
met with. This is borne out by the fact that the taller chest-on-stand of 
the William and Mary period, without the veneered top, is never found 
decorated with inlay. 

Chests-with-drawers have survived in far larger numbers than those 
on stands, and the notes already given on the stands of the walnut 
examples, both as regards their design and rarity, also refer equally well 
to marquetry specimens. 


106 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


The tops of these chests are inlaid with marquetry similar in the 
design to that on the tops of the oblong tables already described. In fact, 
this similarity has often induced the imitator to convert a chest top into a 
table top. As a table is more valuable to-day than a chest, it would pay 
him to carry out this fraud, even though he has to make a new drawer 
and frame, legs and stretchers. 

Besides this conversion, the marquetry chest-with-drawers is a piece 
that has often assisted the imitator to reap a good profit. Scores of plain 
walnut chests during the last twenty years have had marquetry panels let 
into their surfaces, and although this deceit in the past was a very paying 
proposition, when the plain example could be purchased for £3 or £4, 
to-day it is not so frequently carried out, as the plain chest is not only much 
scarcer, but considerably more expensive. 

A type of marquetry that was much favoured by the imitator for 
decorating these chests was the Dutch design of the broad acanthus-leaf 
scroll already mentioned. This marquetry being coarser, and having no 
fine detail in its pattern, could be reproduced more easily and at a lower 
cost than the floral, seaweed or arabesque varieties. Chests decorated with 
this foreign type of coarse marquetry should therefore receive but scant 
attention from the collector. A useful test to apply to these chests to deter- 
mine their genuineness, is the one already mentioned of the holes at the 
back of the drawer-fronts not appearing on the face of the front because 
they have been covered up with the modern marquetry. 


CLocK-CASES 


The long-case clock made its first appearance in England soon after 
Charles II ascended the throne. The case was a favourite article to be 
decorated with marquetry; so much so, that the evolution of English 
marquetry can be traced in the clock-cases from 1670-1720. 

The earliest clock-cases, dating from about 1662, were veneered with 
ebony (Plate XV (a and c)). The next type of case would appear, from 
examples extant, to have been decorated with oyster-shell parquetry, and 
sometimes further enhanced with inlaid stars on the door and base (Plate 
XV (b)). This was followed by the case with floral marquetry in panels 
(Plate XVI (a)). By about 1690 clock-cases with marquetry of floral 
design entirely covering the door and base came into vogue, and some 
examples are found of this type with cupids and scroll work introduced 
into the design which, as already described, was due at this time to 
Daniel Marot and his followers. Cases decorated with seaweed marquetry 
date from about 1695, and the design is generally in panels. The clock-case 


a5 
j 
: 
. 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE 107 


with arabesque is, to-day, usually associated with cases dating from 1705- 
1720 (Plate XVI (b)). The dates given here are, of course, only approxi- 
mate, as the various styles in marquetry overlapped, floral marquetry cases 
being found of as late a date as 1715. 

The craft of the clockmaker in the time of Charles II was an important 
one. ‘The celebrated horologists, such as John Fromanteel and Thomas 
Tompion, held rank in their day as scientists, and enjoyed the esteem of 
contemporary society. ‘Through the inventions and improvements made 
_ during this reign, foremost amongst which were the long pendulum and 
anchor escapement, the popularity of the clock quickly became assured. 
The earlier timekeeper, the brass lantern clock with the bob pendulum, 
had been but an indifferent instrument to tell the passing of the hours. 

The long-case clock when first introduced was, as one would expect, 
confined to the patronage of the rich; but the demand for it continually 
increasing caused considerable numbers to be made, more especially from 
the reign of William and Mary onwards, which can be with reason inferred 
from the long roll of members of the Clockmakers’ Company at that time. 

The early clocks were narrow and small in size, with dials about 
Io inches square, or even smaller. ‘The sizes of the dials and the cases 
increased as time went on, and the moulding under the hood, also that sur- 
mounting the base, altered in section, the earlier ones being invariably convex 
and the later ones concave; this change coming into vogue about 1705. 
In the earlier cases up to about 1695, the hoods slid up to give access to the 
dial for the winding of the movement, but after that date the hood was 
provided with a door. 

Other changes that took place were variations in the ornaments which 
decorated the four spandrel corners of the dial ; the figures which indicated 
the minutes on the dial also gradually increased in size, as the early clocks 
had the figures small. An important change which came in about 1715 to 
1720 was the addition of an arched top to the previous square dial. 

The cases in this period were made, unquestionably, by cabinet-makers 
who confined their work solely to the production of such articles. This 
would account for clock-cases having certain peculiarities not found in 
contemporary furniture. For instance, the mouldings around the doors in 
some cases are made in the solid wood, ebonized in the Dutch manner, and 
not cross-banded. On other cases decorated with marquetry, the panels 
would appear to have been cut away to make them fit the door or base. 
Such examples were undoubtedly made by small country clock-case makers, 
who bought stock marquetry panels, and did not cut their own marquetry 
as the case-makers in the larger towns would undoubtedly have done. The 
carcases of the cases at this period were invariably made of oak for the sake 


108 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE __ 


PLATE XX 


(6) A walnut writing-chair upholstered with the original gros and petit — 
point needlework covering, circa 1720. In the collection of Frank | 
Partridge, Esq. +) 


(a) A walnut arm-chair with upholstered seat and back, covered 1 
and petit point needlework, circa 1735. In the collection of P 
D. Griffiths, Esq. | a Bots. 


PLATE XX 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE 109 


of appearance, owing to the interior of the case being visible when the door 
was open. 

The movements of the long-case clocks of this period are a factor in 
their present-day value, apart from the cases ; in fact, to-day a fine move- 
ment governs the value of a clock even more than the case. A case which 
possesses a movement by one of the famous makers of this period, such as 
John Fromanteel, William Clement, Thomas Tompion (clock and watch- 
maker to Charles II), Edward East, Daniel Quare, Joseph Knibb, or George 
Graham, will be of great interest and value to the clock collector. 

Movements by these makers, needless to say, are extremely rare and 
much sought after to-day ; although clocks with movements by contemporary 
and less eminent makers are not so difficult to meet with, and such examples 
will have their value governed to a greater extent by their cases. 

A few interesting points about clock movements may be briefly stated 
here. Movements exhibit varying degrees of quality; those made by 
London makers being markedly superior to the movements made by the 
country maker. Fine specimens by the best makers show a high standard 
of workmanship in the finish, not only of the dials and hands, but of the 
corner-pieces, which on the earliest examples are water-gilt ; also of the 
hand-beaten brass plates, the pillars which hold them together, and the 
wheels and pinions. In poor quality movements the plates will be thick and 
the wheels and pinions coarser and more roughly cut. In the best examples 
the pillars will be held in position by hooks which fit into a groove in the 
part of the pillar that protrudes through the plate; but in specimens of 
poorer quality the ends of the pillars will be drilled through, and a tapered 
pin wedged through the hole. 

The majority of the clocks of this period have eight-day movements ; 
rarer and more valuable examples will require winding once a month ; 
while some exceptional and rare movements will go for six or twelve months. 
One of the features of a high quality movement was the provision for 
maintaining power, so that the clock continued to go during the operation of 
winding. The mechanism for maintaining power was brought into action 
by pulling a cord, and in order that this should not be forgotten before 
winding, two little shutters closed the holes in the dial, covering the winding 
squares ; these shutters being drawn back from the apertures by the same 
cord that brought the maintaining power into operation. Many clocks will 
have lost their shutters and maintaining power, but a movement originally 
made with this feature can generally be recognized because the ends of the 
winding squares do not protrude through the holes in the dial, but will be 
slightly recessed to allow the shutters, which are at the back of the dial, to 
slide in front of them. Clocks without the winding holes in the dial are 


110 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


30-hour movements, wound up by pulling the cords or chains of the weights. 
These are not found dating from the walnut period and are of no interest 
to the collector. Oak clock-cases also do not belong to this period, oak being 
used for the cheaper provincial clock-cases made in the last half of the 
eighteenth century, at which time the clock came into the homes of the 
lower classes. 

The weights on a clock of good quality will be encased in brass, whereas, 
on inferior movements they will be of lead or iron and uncased. The 
arrangement by which the door of the hood is secured with a bolt, which 
can only be released by opening the long door, is to ensure that the long 
door is opened before the winding is started. The person winding will then 
be able to see the weights, and note when they reach the top of the case, 
showing that the clock is fully wound. Otherwise, if the weights are not 
visible, there is a danger of over-winding and of the weights striking the 
clock-board and straining or breaking the gut. 

Many clock movements are spurious, the names of famous makers 
they bear having been engraved on the dials in recent years. A large number 
of high quality movements of this period have been ruined by the works 
being renovated and altered. If the back-plate of a clock shows a number 
of empty holes which originally held pinions, it denotes that some part of 
the original movement is missing, and this, to a certain degree, depreciates 
the value. In some cases, close examination will show that an attempt has 
been made to disguise the absence of original parts by stopping up these 
holes. 

This period of clocks with ebony, parquetry, marquetry and walnut 
cases is the most interesting to the clock collector, as it includes the pro- 
ductions of the most famous English clockmakers, and the movements are, 
accordingly, of exceptional interest. 

From the end of the walnut period to that of the eighteenth century, 
clock movements declined in quality, especially in the execution and finish 
of the dials and hands. No fine month or year movements belong to this 
period, as the clock had now become a standard article of domestic furniture 
to be found in every home. By the close of the eighteenth century clock 
movements of high quality were again made, this period being specially of 
interest for its regulators ; and a number of domestic clocks, dating from 
the early nineteenth century, exhibit the fine finish and quality of the 
regulator type. The clocks of this revival have naturally engaged the 
collector’s attention, although in a lesser degree than the clocks of the 
walnut period. 

The cases of the long-case clocks have not been overlooked by the 
imitator, as he has inlaid many plain walnut examples with spurious panels 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE III 


of marquetry. Although a number of genuine seaweed and arabesque 
marquetry cases will be met with in which the inlay is a dark pattern on a 
light background, many more spurious examples of this description will be 
found to-day, owing to the imitator using the ‘‘ contra”’ veneers left over 
from the cutting, which he employs to decorate a second clock-case. These 
spurious cases invariably have the pattern symmetrical, because, as already 
mentioned, this device considerably lessens the labour in cutting and 
designing the marquetry. 

The rare type of arabesque marquetry, known as the “ Persian,”’ will 
also be met with on spurious cases, in fact many more spurious examples 
of this type exist than genuine ones. Sometimes the imitator, in order to 
give his marquetry clocks a more genuine appearance, will coat their sur- 
faces very heavily with thick, opaque varnish to reproduce the condition in 
which the genuine clocks are occasionally found. 

In regard to the commercial imitator, his efforts on long-case clocks 
would appear to be confined to examples of the small long-case clock, 
known to-day as the “ Grandmother ” clock. Genuine long-case clocks of 
this small size, especially of the walnut period, are very few and far between ; 
in fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is doubtful whether 
half-a-dozen are in existence. ‘The spurious grandmother clocks generally 
have modern movements,* faked to give them an appearance of age, and the 
cases will be found in walnut, burr walnut, marquetry, lacquer and mahogany. 

A number of genuine clocks which in the past had either their bases 
or the domes of their hoods removed to reduce their height and permit 
them to stand in low rooms, will be found, to-day, with the bases or the 
domes restored. The collector should, therefore, carefully examine these 
parts for restoration, and notice any variation in the cutting of the mar- 
quetry and also in its surface condition. Sometimes clocks will be found 
with half the base restored only, whereas in others the whole base will be 
modern. Many of these will have a crack across the marquetry panel, and 
the collector should remember the remarks already given on the light colour 
of the box-wood on its split edges. 

Many old cases, both in walnut and marquetry, had their patina destroyed 
by modern polishing, whilst others, as already noted, will be found heavily 
coated with a thick, opaque varnish. Fortunately, the latter, if carefully 
removed, does not damage the appearance of the clock to the same extent 
as those that have had their surfaces scraped and polished. It should be 


6¢ 


* Sometimes old movements obtained from the hood or wall clocks, which have small 
dials, are used. Genuine examples of these clocks, contemporary with the walnut clocks, are to 
be found, having thirty-hour movements of poor quality. They are, however, of little value 
to-day. 


ry 


112 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURN 


ae 


PLATE XXI 


A walnut settee, with the rare feature of masks decorating the s¢ 
circa 1715. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq 


PLATE XXII 


ee 


ss 


MARQUETRY FURNITURE 113 


noted that genuine examples which have been repolished will not show the 
furrows between the inlay to the same degree as in the modern marquetry. 


BRACKET CLOCKS 


Bracket clocks of the Charles II period, unlike the long-case move- 
ments, had the bob pendulum with the crown wheel escapement, similar 
to the earlier lantern clocks ; but the driving power instead of being derived 
from weights, was obtained from a spring enclosed in a brass barrel. The 
improved anchor escapement was not adapted to the bracket clock until 
late in the eighteenth century, although a large number of movements have 
had the crown-wheel escapement altered at a subsequent date because of 
its irregularity. The back-plates of the bracket clocks, unlike those of the 
long-case clocks, are invariably engraved ; examples of the first half of the 
walnut period have square dials with cases veneered with ebony or with pear- 
wood ebonized. They are termed “ Basket Top” clocks, being surmounted 
by a bell-shaped dome which is composed sometimes of wood with brass 
mounts, whilst others will have the basket top made entirely of brass of 
pierced design. In some fine and very rare examples the basket-top, 
mounts and dial will be of silver instead of brass. A few very rare basket- 
top clocks of this type have survived with tortoise-shell cases or veneered 
walnut cases, and such examples are much sought after by the collector. 

In the eighteenth century, the bracket clock, like the long-case clock, had 
an arched dial (see Plate XL (a and 6)), and the clock was higher and not so 
square in shape. Examples of this type usually have pear-wood ebonized 
cases ; and, although in lesser number, specimens with lacquer cases have 
also survived. The quality of the movements of the early bracket clocks 1s 
exceptionally fine. Specimens with chiming movements will also be found, 
but it should be noted that this feature does not enhance their value as it 
would do if found on the movement of a long-case clock. 

The imitator does not pay so much attention to the bracket clock as he 
does to the long-case variety, although he has been known to re-veneer 
with old walnut veneer the early ebonized case, and, in some instances, 
has also made marquetry specimens. The transformation of an ebonized 
bracket clock into a tortoise-shell example is also not a very difficult con- 
version ; but the imitator is unlikely to copy the genuine English example 
by making the mouldings of the case in tortoise-shell, as this would incur 
too much expense, and he therefore retains the ebonized mouldings. Many 
of the later bracket clocks with the arched dial have been converted into 
lacquer specimens, but these will be dealt with in the chapter on that 
subject. 

H 


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, 114 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE ~ 


Pirate XXIT. a es 


A two-chair-back walnut settee. Front legs cabriole and te 
__ lion-paw feet, circa 1735. In the collection of M. Harris 


PLATE Xxif 


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MARQUETRY FURNITURE 115 


MIRRORS 


The only mirrors which have survived in any number from the first 
half of the walnut period have heavy moulded frames with hoods, and are 
of a similar design to the marquetry example, Plate XIII. These mirrors 
will be found with the straight-cut walnut veneer, with oyster-shell parquetry, 
and in marquetry; of the last named the earlier specimens have their 
frames inlaid with floral marquetry in panels, whilst in others the marquetry 
design covers the whole frame, similar to the one illustrated. Mirrors of 
this type are also extant, dating from the reign of William III, decorated 
with seaweed marquetry in panels. 

This mirror is found in various sizes, but it was invariably designed 
with a hood with a shaped top, which, in some cases, was ornamented with 
a pierced design, whilst in others it was plain. The hoods were fixed with 
two wooden tongues, which fitted into slots in the back of the frame, but 
owing to the fragile nature of the hood, the majority of the mirrors will be 
found with this feature missing. A mirror without its hood is an imperfect 
specimen, and its value is depreciated in consequence. In proof that the 
hood is missing, examination of the back of the frame will show the slots 
into which the tongues originally fitted. 

Another loss which many of these mirrors have sustained is that of 
the original Vauxhall mirror-plate. This, also, has a detrimental effect to 
the mirror’s present-day value, as the old plate with shallow bevelling and 
dark reflection is in perfect harmony with its walnut frame, whereas the 
new one, with its clear reflection and sharp bevelling, is out of character. 

Owing to the fact that many more mirrors of this description have 
survived with plain walnut frames, many such examples have had their value 
fictitiously enhanced within recent years by spurious inlay. 

Other types of mirrors decorated with marquetry are much scarcer 
to-day, which is perhaps due to the walnut-frame mirror declining in 
favour in the William and Mary period, when mirrors with gilt, lacquer and 
glass frames, came into vogue. The mirror with gilt frame must have been 
particularly popular from 1700 onwards, as a large number of examples 
dating from the second half of the walnut period are in existence to-day. 


Lace Boxes AND OTHER ARTICLES DECORATED WITH MARQUETRY 


An article of which a large number must have been made, as many 
have survived, is the shallow box with lid, which is known to-day as a lace 
box. Examples extant are generally decorated either with floral marquetry 
in panels, or with oyster-shell parquetry. 


116 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


A number of draught or chess boards, made in the shape of shallow 
boxes, which, when folded out flat, form the playing board, are extant 
decorated with inlay. These are of great rarity, and of considerable value 
and interest, especially if the draughts or chessmen have also been pre- 
served. Among other articles treated with marquetry were bellows, but 
these are only known by two or three existing examples. | 


Owing to the vogue for marquetry in the late seventeenth century, it 
must have been used for decorating a number of other articles of domestic 
furniture which have not, unfortunately, survived in sufficient numbers to 
warrant their special notice. For instance, the dressing-table with drawers, 
supported on legs of the type similar to Plate XXXIV (8), is not unknown 
in marquetry, and there is still a likelihood that among the hidden treasures 
in England other rare specimens of marquetry furniture will one day come 
to light. 


CHAPTER VI 


QUEEN ANNE AND GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 
1702-1745 


HE furniture of the latter half of the walnut period, as we know 

it to-day, is plain in character, with little enrichment by 

carving or inlay; relying for its decorative effect on good 

proportion, graceful and elegant form, and on the figure and 

marking of the wood; exhibiting also, workmanship of the 
highest quality. Refined and tasteful, it is perhaps of all types of English 
furniture the most characteristic ; possessing an individuality and artistic 
beauty that ensures for it a prominent place in the annals of English 
furniture. 

The desire for luxury and domestic comfort disclosed in the first half 
of the walnut period had extended to the upper and middle classes, and 
was no longer confined to the wealthy. ‘To meet the greater demand for 
walnut furniture, the use of which now became general, it was made on 
more standardized lines in considerably larger quantities ; and this explains 
why most of the veneered walnut furniture existing to-day, dates from the 
latter half of the walnut period. New types of furniture were introduced ; 
and the evolution of previous types brought about alterations in design 
according to the changing fashions. 

Burr walnut succeeded oyster-shell parquetry, and the use of mar- 
quetry was now confined to small panels of a restrained design in seaweed 
or arabesque ; this, however, does not refer to the clock-cases, the pro- 
duction of which, as already noted, was a craft separate from that of the 
furniture maker. Carving was confined to decoration on the legs of chairs, 
stools, settees, and other leg furniture ; also to the decoration of the backs 
of chairs and settees, for which the carving was executed in a very low relief 
and applied, as already described, on the surface of the veneer. This 
limitation of decoration by carving and inlay was compensated for by the 
fine figure and markings of the wood ; and the skilful arrangement of these 
natural features is the distinguishing characteristic of the veneered furni- 
ture. The use of well-defined mouldings, all of which were made from 
cross-cut walnut, also contributed to the decorative effect. 

In the previous period all leg furniture, such as chairs, stools, and 

117 


118 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER 


Prats XXIII 


(a) A two-chair-back walnut settee. Arms terminating in eagles’ head ; 
circa wk 5. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, ner ae 


(6) A walnut side table with aye of unusual design, circa 
collection of M. Harris, Esq. % 


JOE PND DOR 0 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 119 


couches, and the stands of chests and cabinets, had the legs connected by 
stretchers. One of the important changes that now occurred in furniture 
design lay in the discarding of these stretchers, an alteration undoubtedly 
evoked by the development of the cabriole leg, the designers being rightly 
convinced that the stretcher marred the contour of the leg. 

During the reign of Queen Anne the cabriole leg was light in design 
and followed the form and outline of the William and Mary examples. The 
pied de biche and the scroll foot, the usual terminations for the earliest 
examples of this leg, were superseded by the square-moulded foot (see 
Plate XVII (a)); the club foot (see Plate XVIII (a)); and the spade foot, 
(see Plate XVII (d)). Other variants were made, notably the square- 
club foot, with which the leg was also square (Plate XXXIII). The legs 
with these terminations had but little decoration in the way of carving on 
the knee. Those with the spade foot and the club foot were sometimes 
decorated with an ornament in the form of husks, but more often with the 
escallop shell (see Plate XXI). Both motifs, combined together sometimes, 
were much in vogue during the first thirty years of the eighteenth century ; 
and the shell was not only extensively used for decorating the knees of 
cabriole legs, but figures as an ornament on the backs of chairs and 
settees, on the gilt mirror frames of the period, and also found its way 
into the design of arabesque marquetry. 

By the end of Queen Anne’s reign, the cabriole leg, now freed from 
the stretcher, had a bolder contour, and became heavier and more impor- 
tant; and with this bolder type of leg the well-known claw-and-ball foot 
appeared. The now greater breadth of the knee called for more elaborate 
treatment than it had hitherto received ; and although the shell, in a more 
ornate form, was extensively used with the claw-and-ball foot, a number 
of other motifs for decorating the knee were laid under contribution. Acan- 
thus foliage (see Plate XXII), was one very frequently used, but a more 
decorative motif was the lion mask* (see Plate XXXII), which made its 
appearance about 1725. 

This feature on the knee originated another terminal for the leg, which, 
when decorated with this mask, invariably ended in a lion’s-paw foot.T 
The paw-foot was, however, more often employed without the accom- 
paniment of the mask; and with the claw-and-ball foot, and the earlier 


* The origin of the lion mask on the knee of the cabriole leg is difficult to surmise. It was 
most probably an alternative motif to the satyr mask, which is found decorating the knees of the 
cabriole legs of gilt furniture at this period, and was adapted from the contemporary Louis Quatorze 
furniture. The satyr mask or “ Indian’s Head,” as it is sometimes called, is not unknown on 
mahogany furniture, a few exceptional pieces having this rare motif. 

¢ There are two varieties of the paw-foot; one similar to that on the card-table, Plate 
XXXII, and the other of a plainer design, similar to the feet of the settee, Plate XXII. 


120 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


club-foot, made the three principal terminals for the cabriole leg from 1725 
up to the end of the period; the club-foot being used for the plain and 
inexpensive furniture. Another “animal” motif introduced about 
1715, and therefore prior to the lion mask, was that of the eagle head,* 
and this was, also, occasionally employed on the knees of cabriole 
legs (see Plate XXXI (5)). Both the eagle and the lion head were used 
for the terminations of the arms of chairs and settees; and the eagle 
head, like the shell, was often employed for the decoration of gilt mirror 
frames. 

The elaboration of carved ornament appearing in the furniture of about 
1720-5 may have been due to the introduction of mahogany, as the 
cabinet-makers, realizing what a good medium this wood was for carving, 
no doubt felt the necessity for further enriching their furniture so that this 
quality in the new, fashionable wood might be utilized to advantage. This 
assumption is supported by the fact that the majority of the chairs, settees 
and stools, on which carved decoration was employed to any extent, are in 
mahogany and not in walnut. As on the introduction of walnut, chairs 
were the first articles to be made of it, so they were the first for which 
walnut was superseded by mahogany; and although walnut chairs were 
made as late as 1750 in the French taste which was then prevailing, there 
are many more chairs, dating from 1720 to the end of the period, in mahogany 
than there are in walnut. Some mahogany examples are, perhaps, before 
1720, which would be early for this wood. 

As already mentioned on page 22, plain veneered walnut furniture, 
such as bureaux, bureau-bookcases, tallboys, chests-with-drawers, long-case 
clocks and dressing-tables, unlike the chairs, continued to be made up to 
the end of the walnut period ; and where there is a paucity of articles made 
in walnut, they will be found in mahogany, the converse also holding good. 
When mahogany furniture came into vogue about 1725-30, all the best qualty 
furniture after this date was made from this wood, leaving the plainer 
furniture for the less wealthy classes to be made from walnut. Superlative 
pieces of walnut dating from 1725 to the end of the period are, therefore, 
exceptional, and, consequently, extremely rare. 

Gilding, as already noted in Chapter I, was used in a very 
restrained manner as a means of enriching walnut furniture; but it 
was confined to the best class of furniture in this period. The carved 
decoration and the mouldings of a piece were the parts treated with the 
gilding. 

* The eagle-head motif, similar to the lion mask, also affected the design of tne foot of the 


cabriole leg, as on some examples where the knee is decorated with this bird motif, the claws and 
the leg will be decorated with scaling in imitation of that of a bird (see Plate XXXI (0)). 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 121 


Cuairs, STOOLS, SETTEES, AND COUCHES 


The chair, of all leg furniture, was the last to lose its stretchers, as 
on tables and stands they were discarded in the early years of the century ; 
but turned stretchers are found on chairs as late as 1720, although by 1710 
the majority were made without them. 

The high, carved hooped back of the William and Mary chair became 
lower in the first decade of the eighteenth century, and the splat, side-rails 
and seat-rails were overlaid with walnut veneer. With the advent of the 
bolder cabriole leg the front corners of the seat, which, previously, had 
been angular, now became rounded (see Plate XIX (a) ), and chairs with this 
seat would appear to have been made up to about 1730. 

The wooden chair-back settee was an innovation, for in the previous 
period, as already noted, the couches were not made with wooden backs. 
These settees were designed with two and three chair-backs; the two- 
chair-back variety having three legs, and that with the three-chair-backs 
having four legs in front, these front legs lining with the uprights to the 
back, as can be seen in the examples illustrated, Plates XXI, XXII, and 
XXIII (a). 

The upholstered-back couch of the first half of the walnut period 
continued to be made in the latter half, the legs following the designs of the 
chairs, but examples of a later date than 1725 appear to have been confined 
to mahogany. A variant of this upholstered-back couch was one with 
dimensions of a very large arm-chair ; and, unlike the ordinary size couches, 
it had two legs in front instead of three, and the back was lower. This 
type of small couch has been termed a “ love seat.” 

Besides the upholstered-back couch, chairs, both single and arm, were 
made with upholstered backs; and an example is illustrated in Plate XX (a) 
of an arm-chair, which, owing to its late date, is but rarely found in walnut, 
most examples of this type being in mahogany. ‘This specimen is covered 
with needlework, which became very fashionable during the first half of 
the eighteenth century, entire suites of furniture being upholstered with 
it, as may be gathered from the particulars of the suite sold at the Wanstead 
House sale, mentioned on page 18. This needlework was usually of floral 
design, sometimes of flowers in vases, and, occasionally, with centre panels 
of figures in landscapes surrounded by floral borders. It varied in quality 
according to the fineness of the stitch, the coarser stitch being known to-day 
as gros point, and the finer as petit point; some of this needlework shows 
the two stitches in combination, the flowers being in the fine, and the back- 
ground in the coarse stitch, whilst a large quantity will be found in the 
coarse stitch only. 


PLATE XXIV 


A bureau-bookcase overlaid with burr walnut veneer, with the ‘unusu 
feature of the doors in upper part being glazed with bevelled gla 
The lower part is fitted with knee-hole and cupboard instead a 
ae drawers, circa 1725. In the collection of Percival D. 

sq. 4 


PEATE XXIV 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE _ 123 


These chairs, stools and settees, both with the wooden and the up- 
holstered backs, were originally made in suites, consisting of six or a dozen 
single chairs, two or more arm-chairs, with, perhaps, two or four stools, and 
two settees. The walnut suite sold at Wanstead House, already referred to, 
consisted of ten chairs and two settees. 

The winged arm-chair of this half of the period would appear to have 
been seldom made in walnut after the introduction of the claw-and-ball 
foot, as all existing examples with this foot or the paw-foot are usually of 
mahogany. The earlier type of winged arm-chair with the small cabriole 
plain legs, sometimes connected by stretchers and ending in the spade-foot, 
or, as in example illustrated, Plate XVIII (5), in the club-foot, was the 
type generally made in walnut. 

Another type of chair in walnut is a small arm-chair, sometimes with 
upholstered back (see Plate XX (5)), and sometimes with a shaped, solid, 
veneered back. Such chairs were used for writing, and are known to-day 
as writing-chairs. Another variety of writing-chair is the corner chair, but 
this being a type introduced about 1725, few examples are met with in 
walnut. A variation of this corner chair had a shaped, and generally, solid 
splat fitted on to the back, similar to Plate XVIII (a). Chairs of this descrip- 
tion, called barber’s chairs, were used for the purpose of shaving, the high 
splat forming a support for the head. The best examples of these two 
types of chairs have all four legs cabriole, similar to the example illustrated, 
but the more usual variety has only one cabriole leg in front, the remaining 
three being straight and ending in club-feet. 


PRESENT-DAY CONDITION OF CHAIRS, STOOLS, SETTEES, AND COUCHES 


These articles will rarely be met with in sets as originally made. A 
set of six chairs is of considerable value, to-day, especially if the legs termi- 
nate in the claw-and-ball feet, and the knees are decorated with carving. 
As already mentioned, the collector is much more likely to find such a set 
in mahogany. 

The single chairs, like those of the early period, are usually found 
either as single specimens or in pairs; the arm-chairs are less likely to be 
met with, and then only singly. ‘The settees are rarer than the arm-chairs, 
and of considerable value to-day. ‘The three-chair-back example is a still 
more difficult piece to find; in fact, judging from its scarcity to-day, it 
could have been but seldom made. Of the upholstered-back couch, a number 
must have been made in the first twenty-five years of the century, but few 
have survived, and these, as already stated, have the small plain cabriole leg, 
sometimes connected by stretchers. 


124 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


The chairs, stools, and settees with the claw-and-ball terminal to the 
cabriole leg and the carved knee, are naturally of greater value and interest 
to-day than the plainer type with the club-foot. Examples with the paw- 
foot are still rarer and more highly esteemed, while those with carved masks 
or eagles’ heads decorating the knees of the cabriole legs are of great rarity 
and value, and only a few walnut stools, chairs, and settees with these motifs 
are known to exist. The presence of a lion or eagle head on the ends of the 
arms of a settee or chair, although not such a rare feature, especially the 
eagle head, as a mask on the leg, is another factor that adds considerably 
to the value of an example. The furniture which is decorated with such bird 
or beast motifs represents the best and most costly furniture of its time, as 
such features are hardly ever to be found on pieces of poor quality. The 
fact that so few examples have survived in walnut, and that the majority 
are in mahogany, again proves how the cabinet-makers favoured the latter 
wood for their best furniture, and only used walnut for such pieces occasionally. 
In comparison, the walnut specimens are markedly superior as regards 
decorative value, especially when they have the wooden splat-back; the 
golden colour and marking of the walnut having a far richer effect than the 
dark, plain Spanish mahogany used at that time. 

The higher-quality chairs and settees have the splats of the back and 
the rails veneered with burr walnut, whereas, lower-quality examples will 
be overlaid with the straight-cut veneer. Unfortunately, a number of 
these chairs and settees have suffered from modern polishing, and these, 
with other walnut furniture similarly treated, are thereby depreciated in 
value. 

Examples with the original needlework coverings are seldom to be 
found, although a number of chairs, settees, and stools have had their seats 
covered in contemporary needlework which has been restored and made to 
fit the articles within recent years. ‘The presence of such old needlework, 
if not too much restored, on a chair, stool, or settee, adds considerably to 
its value; but the collector should be wary of the chair or couch covered 
with a piece of old needlework which has been extended so that it covers 
the back, seat and arms, whereas, before this increase in size, it was hardly 
large enough to cover the seat. Owing to the scarcity of old English needle- 
work to-day, a number of chairs and couches have been upholstered in 
eighteenth-century Dutch needlework, which is generally in the coarse 
stitch, with a disjointed floral design of small birds and figures ; the colour- 
ing is bad, bright reds and blues predominating, with none of the attractive 
harmonious colourings of the English. 

Beside the much-restored and the extended needlework covering, a 
very large quantity of gros and petit point needlework, reproduced from the 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 125 


old, is made at the present day ; and this is used for upholstering not only 
spurious but genuine examples. It differs from the old needlework in its 
colouring ; the imitator, in order to produce an appearance of age, uses silks 
which are specially dyed to match the colours of the old work. He is 
unconcerned by the probability that his modern needlework will fade ; and, 
in consequence, after a short time, the colours made to match the old work 
have faded to a lighter tone. Old needlework is never found with the 
colourless appearance of the modern reproduction, in fact, in many genuine 
pieces, the colouring is quite fresh. There is also a difference in the drawing 
of the figures in an old piece, compared with the modern, especially notice- 
able in the faces and hands; and the old needlework is hard and stiff, 
whereas the modern is soft and pliant. 

Spurious examples of chairs, settees, couches, and stools are likely to 
be encountered, not only of entirely new construction, but genuine examples 
will be found with their value fictitiously increased by various devices. 

One favourite expedient is to carve the ends of the arms of a plain chair 
with eagles’ heads; the corner chair is generally chosen for this deception, 
as the plain arm terminates in a round flat scroll which affords sufficient 
material for carving this feature. Owing to the rarity of the walnut arm- 
chair, the imitator uses the mahogany examples, of which a large number 
have survived. Although the commerical imitator makes sets of walnut 
hoop-back chairs and settees, his more skilled confrére confines his atten- 
tion to the upholstered varieties of these articles, and has particularly 
favoured in the past the couch, chair, and stool with the lion mask. This 
type of fake has attained such notoriety that the market is no longer recep- 
tive, and the imitator has, consequently, turned his attention to earlier 
types, often using marquetry inlay instead of carving, as already mentioned. 

Concerning the stool of this period, the collector must bear in mind 
the spurious example that, like that of the stool in the earlier period, has 
been made from the front legs of two single chairs. A pair of single chairs 
with upholstered backs were not so saleable in the past as one stool. The 
made-up stools of this period, of which many are about, can be detected, 
because the front leg of a chair is set at an acute angle, the front of the seat 
being wider than the back, while on a stool the legs are made at right angles. 
The chair legs when they are fitted on to a stool will, therefore, have the 
wings of the legs running under the seat-rail and will not line with the 
front edge of it. Stools should always be scrutinized for evidence of this 
deception, for while this adaptation is no longer feasible, owing to the 
scarcity of the genuine chairs, a number of such stools made in the past 
will be met with, generally of the type with the upholstery over the seat-rail, 
similar to Plate XVII (a). 


126 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XXV 


A narrow bureau writing-cabinet of very unusual design, overlaid with burr 
walnut veneer, supported on short cabriole legs, ending in claw and ball 
feet. The carved enrichment to the cornice and pediment and the 
capitals of the pilasters are of limewood and gilt. The door panel is 
fitted with a bevelled mirror plate, circa 1735. 

(This piece is of exceptional quality and in very fine preservation. The 
carcase is made of English oak and the drawer linings are of walnut 
wood. This latter feature is very unusual and is but seldom found 
in large drawers of walnut pieces, although it will be met with in the 
small drawers of toilet mirrors, etc.) 

In the collection of Captain W. F. Dickinson. 


PLATE XXV 


ee 
PED ws 


Hw 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 127 


The making of an upholstered-back couch from an upholstered-back 
arm-chair is another fraud that has been successfully carried out, judging 
from the number of spurious couches of this description that are to be 
found. The four legs and the arms of the chair will be utilized, the only 
visible part lacking being the middle front leg. This the imitator some- 
times reproduces, whilst on other occasions he omits it altogether. Any 
couch or settee equal in width to two chairs, if genuine, will always have the 
centre front leg. Examples, therefore, without this leg are either spurious, 
or, if genuine, the leg has been damaged and lost ; in which case examination 
of the under-framing will show that it once existed. 

To avoid the difficulty of the front leg the imitator often makes from 
a chair, the rare, small love-seat, which, as already described, has no 
centre leg; but genuine seats of this description will have short legs 
similar to that of the winged arm-chair,* and not the taller leg of the chair 
or settee. Such examples of couches and love-seats should always be very 
carefully examined by the collector before purchasing. The exposed seat- 
rails will be of old beech, or, if made from modern, will be faked to give 
them an appearance of age. A useful test for these articles is, if possible, 
to examine the framework of the back and arms for any signs of the marks 
of the band- or circular-saw, for the imitator does not generally go to the 
trouble of removing all traces of such marks from the framework, which 
being covered by the upholstery will, in all probability, escape inspection. 

A number of single chairs will be found converted into arm-chairs by 
the addition of spurious arms, as the arm-chair is not only more valuable 
than the single but far more saleable. To detect such a chair will not, 
however, require much circumspection, as owing to its narrow seat and 
back it will lack the proportions of the genuine arm-chair. 

Many arm-chairs and stools which were originally made as night commodes 
have had the deep apron pieces of the seat-rails cut away, thus converting 
them into the ordinary specimens. The new stained and raw surface of the 
underside of the seat-rail will indicate that this conversion has been carried out. 

The imitator in making chairs with the wooden splat back, will in most 
cases, to save expense, vary the construction of the shoe piece, which holds 
the splat in position on the back seat-rail, from that found on the genuine 
chair. The latter will have the splat and the shoe-piece separate, and the 
line where they join can be distinctly seen on examining the chair at the 
back. The imitator makes the seat-rail and shoe-piece in one, and to disguise 
the fact sometimes represents the join by a gouged line. 

* The reason that the winged arm-chair, upholstered-back couch and love-seat have short 


legs is owing to their seats being fitted with squabs, and this increased height in the upholstery 
necessitated a reduction in the height of the leg. 


PLATE XXVI 


The interior of the top part and bureau of the writing-cabinet ilh lustr 
Plate XXV. | a 


PLATE XXVI 


aes 


f 


7 


‘ - - 
rites 


i 
e, 


ie 
4 
N 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 129 


TABLES 


The popular type of oblong table of the seventeenth century appears 
to have declined in favour in this half of the walnut period. A type of 
table that has survived from this latter half, and somewhat resembles the 
earlier oblong table, is that with a drawer in one side and round legs 
terminating in club-feet. The folding-top table, also met with, has similar 
legs. Both these types, however, exist in such small numbers that they 
could not have been as popular as the earlier oblong table. 

In the reign of William III, the table known as the side table was 
introduced, but as the early specimens of this type, sometimes with scroll 
legs or heavy tapered legs,* connected by stretchers, are known, to-day, 
by only a few surviving examples, consideration of these tables has been 
deferred until this chapter. 

The early eighteenth-century examples are small in size, with cabriole 
legs ending in either the club, the spade, or the claw-and-ball foot. Such 
small examples will be found in walnut; but the larger type of this table, 
which was a very popular piece of furniture from 1725 to 1750, will be met 
with in mahogany, and but seldom in walnut. A very rare side-table of large 
size is illustrated, Plate XXIII (5); the type of leg on this table is sometimes 
found on chairs and stools, and would appear to date about 1720. The 
early side tables of the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne had 
wooden veneered tops, whereas those from the reign of George I onwards 
had marble tops.t ‘The earlier marble tops had their edges moulded, unlike 
the later tops, which had the edges square in section. 

The oval gate-legged table in this period had developed into the table 
with the oval top and cabriole legs. Such tables, however, like the gate- 
legged tables, are hardly ever met with in walnut. Early examples with a 
carved shell on the knee, dating about 1720, or even earlier, were made of 
mahogany. With the exception of the oblong table, the other variety with 
the folding-top and the side table, no other walnut tables of this period, 
appear to have been made in any quantity. 

* An interesting side table with scroll legs and veneered walnut top, dating from the last 
years of the seventeenth century, is to be seen in the Royal apartments at Hampton Court. An 
unusual feature of this table is that the scroll legs, which are made of soft wood, are painted and 
grained in imitation of walnut. An analogous expedient to accentuate poorly marked and figured 
walnut veneer was to represent the markings by dark painted lines. 

+ Tables with marble tops could not have been unknown in the reign of William III, as 
Celia Fiennes, in her diary, Through England on a Side Saddle, mentions that at Hampton Court 
she saw two marble tables. These, presumably, were tables with marble tops on wooden stands ; 
but whether the latter were walnut or gilt, English or Foreign, it is impossible to conjecture. 


Judging from existing examples, however, the table with marble top does not appear to have come 
into general use until the time mentioned. 


I 


130 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


Carp ‘TABLES 


In the early years of the eighteenth century the turned and tapered 
legs of the circular folding-top card table of the William and Mary period 
were superseded by slender cabriole legs ending in spade-feet, and 
the stretchers were also discarded. ‘The next type of card table was designed 
with a square top with projecting circular corners. The top overhung the 
‘frieze by two or three inches, and the legs were slender and cabriole, ending 
in club-feet. ‘The four corners of the open top were made with circular 
sunk compartments for candlesticks, and shallow wells for counters were 
also fitted. By about 1720 the cabriole legs of this table became bolder ; 
and the frame of the table was made larger, so that the projection of the top 
over the frieze was reduced (see example illustrated, Plate XXXI(6)). In 
these later tables the front corners of the frieze were circular, following out 
the shape of the top, whereas in the Queen Anne examples they were 
square. 

Of this type of card table a number of fine-quality examples have 
survived, the legs ending in claw-and-ball or lion-paw feet, and the knees 
being carved with one of the various motifs already described. By about 
1735 the design of the card table underwent a further change, the top now 
having square corners in place of the earlier circular ones. On these tops 
the compartments for the candlesticks are square and not circular. The 
‘* square-corner ”’ card table is but seldom found in walnut, as it was intro- 
duced at too late a date for many examples to be made from this wood. ‘The 
example, illustrated, Plate XXXII, of about 1735, has a serpentine front, 
which was another new feature introduced about this time, and which 
became extremely popular in the furniture of the latter half of the eighteenth 
century. 

The folding leaf in these card tables is generally supported by one of 
the back legs, which is hinged on to the framework ; but in some cases the 
leaf is upheld by two legs so that the top, when open, has a leg under each 
corner; and this arrangement, which is known as the “ concertina,” adds 
both interest and value to an example. A table with cabriole front legs, 
ending in claw-and-ball feet, also has an additional value if the back legs 


have the same termination. In the majority of such card tables the back — 


legs have the club-foot. 3 
Another rare type of folding-top card table, of which a few examples 
have survived, is one with a triangular-shaped top with a leg at each corner, 
and a fourth leg at the back which swings out to support the hinged leaf, 
the top, when opened, forming a square. The legs of this table are tri- 
angular in section and slightly cabriole. This type of table would appear 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 131 


to date from the latter years of Queen Anne’s reign, and was made in both 
small and large sizes. 

Although the majority of the card tables of this period appear to have 
been made in the standard size of about 3 feet in width, a few have survived 
of smaller dimensions, and these, owing to their rarity to-day, are more 
highly prized. Sometimes these tables will be found with veneered tops 
instead of the top covered with material ; such examples were presumably 
made for occasional tables in a room and not for card playing. Originally, 
it would appear to have been the fashion to make many of these card tables 
in pairs, as a number of pairs, both in walnut and mahogany, have survived ; 
in such cases, the value to-day of a pair of tables is more than double that 
of a single example. 

The original covering to the top of a walnut card table was usually 
of velvet, which was pasted on to the top, and framed on the edges with 
narrow metal braid held in place by small brass-headed nails. The green 
baize top was not introduced until later in the eighteenth century. Besides 
the velvet it was the fashion to line the top of the card table with needle- 
work, and a few rare examples with this covering have survived. 

The collector will find that the genuine walnut card table which has 
not been French polished is by no means an easy piece to find; and this 
is true not only of the more ornate examples with claw-and-ball feet, but 
also of the earlier, plainer type. He is much more likely to meet with 
mahogany examples, which exist to-day in far larger numbers. 


BUREAUX AND BUREAU-BOOKCASES 


The introduction of the bureau-with-drawers in the reign of William 
and Mary has already been noted in Chapter IV. From the design of the 
earlier bureaux of this type they would not appear to be of a date prior to 
1690, and such early examples dating from William the Third’s reign are 
to-day of distinct rarity compared with the very large number that have 
survived from the first forty-five years of the eighteenth century. The 
bureau of the late seventeenth century differs in several features from that 
of the eighteenth century. The earliest examples of the former have the 
bureau wider than the base with drawers, as the bureau will be found to 
overhang the sides of the base by an inch or two. An example of this can 
be seen in the small bureau-on-stand, Plate XXVII (a). This feature seems 
to be peculiar to the seventeenth-century bureau, as it is not found on those 
of the early eighteenth century. Another feature of the seventeenth- 
century example is that the bureau and the base with drawers are in separate 
parts. In the later bureau of the Queen Anne period they were in one, 


132 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


ras 
. PAE eS OF. +2% Aw 4 i v4 
a ha 


PLATE XXVII 


(6) A bureau overlaid with burr walnut veneer supported on turned a and 
tapered legs, circa 1710. ae 


(a) A bureau overlaid with walnut veneer supported « on nen 
serpentine stretcher, civca 1685. In the collection of Robert 


7 re 


PLATE XXVII 


: n ; | 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 133 


although an early example will still retain the moulding between the base 
and the bureau which originated to hide the join between the two (see 
Plate XXXVIII). The majority of the bureaux-with-drawers will be found 
about 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches in width, whereas rarer and smaller examples 
will measure about 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches. 

The walnut bureau-bookcase, that is, the bureau-with-drawers sur- 
mounted by a bookcase with folding doors, has survived also in large numbers, 
although not to the same extent as the bureau. The bureau-bookcase will 
also be found with the two early features already described in the bureau. 
The designs for the treatment of the cornice to the upper part were varied. 
Some examples have a straight cornice similar to Plate XXIV, whilst other 
examples have a double-dome top, Plate XXXVIII, or a shaped curved 
top, similar to Plate XX XIX. Others, again, are found with a broken- 
arch pediment top, and another design, although extremely rare in walnut 
pieces, is the swan-neck pediment, similar to Plate XXV. 

A favourite method of decorating the panels in the doors of the book- 
case was with mirrors, for many such examples have survived ; but lower 
quality and cheaper examples had walnut panels that were much less costly 
than the mirror plates. The tops of the panels of the doors followed out 
the design of the cornice, as examples with the straight cornice will have 
oblong panels, and examples with the dome cornice will have the panels 
shaped similar to the example illustrated. Like the bureaux, these bureau- 
bookcases were made in two sizes, the majority 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches, and 
a smaller size ranging from 2 feet or under to 2 feet 6 inches. Most of 
the smaller variety had one door in the top part, similar to example, 
Plate XXV, although a number have survived with two doors, similar 
to the larger examples. A feature which is unusual both in the bureau and 
the bureau-bookcase is for the base to be fitted with a pedestal with small 
drawers on each side and a cupboard in the recess, similar to example illus- 
trated, Plate XXIV. Another unusual feature, mainly confined to the 
bureau-bookcase, is for the base to have cupboards instead of drawers. 
The early bureau-bookcases generally have their doors hung with the 
centre-pin hinge and not with the butt hinge. Sometimes examples are 
met with having brass butterfly hinges with shaped and engraved leaves. 

The collector who is desirous of buying either of these two pieces will 
not encounter any difficulty in finding genuine specimens, but he should 
make his selection from those which have good patina and quality. The 
latter will be determined, to a large extent, by the presence of burr walnut 
veneer instead of the more usual straight-cut variety. The linings of the 
drawers should be of oak and the top edges of the sides of the drawers 
should be rounded and carefully finished off. The back of the drawer 


PiaTE XXVIII 


(5) A walnut tripod table with legs terminating in Nonna feet, circa 173 
In the collection of Capt. W. F. Dickinson. 


/ 


(a) A bureau overlaid with burr walnut veneer on cabaale 
club feet, circa 1735. In the collection of Percival D. G 


PLATE XXVIII 


ad 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 135 


front should also be of oak and not deal. Specimens with mirror plates in 
the panels of the doors are much more desirable than those with the walnut 
panels ; but it is essential that the mirror plates should be the original ones, 
as a number of bureau-bookcases will be found with new plates, especially 
the smaller type with a single door. The old plate can be recognized by 
its shallow bevelling and dark reflection, and the plate itself will be thin 
and not thick, as in the modern glass. To judge whether glass is thick or 
thin, if a coin or other object is placed touching the glass, the distance 
between it and its reflection on the mercury at the back will denote the 
thickness of the plate. The modern mirror plate will not only be much 
thicker and its reflection whiter, but the surface of the bevelling when 
viewed at an angle will show distinctly the marks or scratches of the emery 
wheel across the bevel. In the original bevel, which will have been worked 
by hand, no such marks will be perceptible. The imitator is not able to 
obtain the dark reflection on his new mirror plate because he cannot make 
the glass a dark colour, as it is the glass itself that gives the dark reflec- 
tion, and not the mercury on the back. Another point of difference 
is that the old mirror plates have silvered backs, whereas the modern have 
painted backs. Not only does the imitator replace the broken mirrors in 
the genuine bureau-bookcase, but he will, to enhance the value of those 
with wooden panels, substitute mirror plates for the wooden panels. Many 
bureau-bookcases will be found to-day with the silvering removed from 
the mirror plate, so that the top part can be used as a china cabinet. Such 
a procedure destroys the appearance of the piece, as a plain sheet of glass 
breaks up the design and is not in good taste. A few very rare bureau- 
bookcases have survived with plain glass instead of mirrors, and such an 
example is illustrated in Plate XXIV. In this case it will be noted that the 
door panel is formed into two portions by a cross-bar, the original designer 
recognizing how injurious to the proportion of the piece it would be if 
the panel was not divided. 

The bureau-bookcase or bureau is not an article which the imitator has 
paid much attention to; he does not make spurious imitations of new 
construction owing to the quantity of genuine examples that have survived. 
He has, however, been known to surmount a bureau with a top part 
which he has come across separated from its original bureau. In order 
to carry out this adaptation he will have to remove the walnut veneer 
from the top of the bureau; and he will, also, have to surround its 
front edge and two sides with a cross-banded moulding, within which the 
top part will rest. One test that shows this adaptation to have been carried 
out is the presence of worm burrows along the surface of the deal top. The 
worm works in the interior and not on the surface of a piece of wood, and 


1336 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


if its borings are visible, it is due to their being revealed by the removal 
of the veneer that previously concealed them. ‘These worm burrows are 
also accentuated because the imitator in planing down the deal top to 
eradicate the marks of the toothed plane, with which the carcases of all 
veneered furniture were scribed to give a key for the veneer, removes the 
outer surface of the wood, and discloses the borings. 


SMALL BUREAUX-ON-STANDS 


One of the earliest examples of this piece is illustrated in Plate 
XXVII (a), and this specimen not only has the turned legs of the late 
Charles II period, but also the early feature of the overlapping bureau top. 

In design, the legs of the stand of the bureau follows out that of the leg 
furniture already described. The round tapered leg, similar to those of the 
bureau illustrated, Plate XXVII (6), is about 1700, and one with the 
cabriole leg ending in the club-foot, Plate XXVIII (a), is about 1735. Other 
walnut bureaux are known with the claw-and-ball foot, and examples of a 
later date than 1735 are to be found generally in mahogany. In the early 
specimens the stand and the bureau were separate, whereas in the later 
bureaux they were in one; although it is not unusual to find mahogany 
examples in two parts similar to the early specimens. Judging from 
existing examples of this small bureau-on-stand, it would appear to be a 
piece that was specially favoured by the well-to-do, as lower-priced examples 
of inferior quality have not survived. The bureau-with-drawers and bureau- 
bookcase, on the contrary, are met with to-day in varying degrees of 
quality ; showing that the cabinet-makers made these articles to suit the 
needs of their various customers. 

Genuine specimens of this small bureau-on-stand are highly prized 
and much sought after, and, as already mentioned, a very large number 
of spurious ones have been made. 

The secretaire with knee-hole and let-down front, similar to example 
illustrated, Plate XXXVI (a), is a piece that would appear to have been 
first made in the reign of William III, but examples later than 1725 do 
not appear to have survived. ‘To-day, it is a piece that is not often 
encountered, and therefore could not have been made in anything like the 
numbers of the bureau or bureau-bookcase. } 

The knee-hole pedestal writing-table in walnut is a very rare piece of 
furniture at the present time, in fact, from the small number of such pieces 
that have survived it could be said that this table was hardly ever made 
up to the end of the walnut period ; and the majority of the existing examples 
extant are in mahogany, and not in walnut. Several writing-tables similar 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 137 


to the example illustrated, Plate X XIX, of very large dimensions, are extant, 
and these would not appear to be of an earlier date than 1725. They are not 
of very high quality like the contemporary mahogany examples, and were 
most probably made originally for libraries of large country houses. ‘The 
small pedestal table (see Plate XXXIV (a)), with the walnut top, must not, 
however, be included amongst these writing-tables, as, not having a leather 
or velvet top, they were undoubtedly originally made as dressing-tables. 

The scarcity throughout the walnut period of all pieces of furniture 
for writing, with the exception of the bureau-with-drawers, the bureau- 
bookcase, and, in a lesser degree, the writing-cabinet with fall-down front, 
is an indication that these three articles of furniture were the only pieces 
used to any great extent for the purpose; in fact, from the large number 
of the bureaux and bureau-bookcases that have survived it would appear 
that very few households among the upper and middle classes were without 
one of these articles. 


WALNUT CABINETS AND BOOKCASES 


The plain type of walnut cabinet, generally measuring about 3 feet 
6 inches in width, with glazed doors supported on base with cupboard, 
has survived from this half of the period. The doors are glazed with square 
panes separated by heavy moulded bars, similar to the top part of the 
bureau-bookcase, Plate XXIV. A few surviving cabinets of this type are 
plain, with straight tops and no elaborate features ; and such cabinets were 
most probably used for housing china or ornaments rather than books. 

The walnut bookcases, of which a few are extant, are similar in design 
to the one illustrated, Plate XXX. Such examples have a low base, generally 
composed of drawers, with a tall upper part enclosed by two glazed doors. 
The later bookcase with wings, of the latter part of George the Second’s 
reign, is generally known to-day by examples in mahogany and not in 
walnut. 

The cabinet-with-doors, so favourite an article in the time of Charles II 
and William and Mary, as already mentioned, is not found in this half of 
the period. A piece with panelled doors on a base with drawers,* however, 
is met with, but this is higher than the former cabinets and was most 
probably the forerunner of the familiar mahogany wardrobe, which was made 
in large numbers from the middle of the eighteenth century. This piece 
is sometimes found with the top drawer in the base made into a secretaire, 
the back of the drawer being fitted with pigeon-holes and small drawers. 


* The value of this piece has often been fictitiously enhanced by the addition of spurious 
marquetry. 


PLATE XXIX 


A large walnut, aoukonidee pedal ‘writing-table, circa a 173 
Sailecita of Sir John Prestige. 


PLATE XXIX 


Sse 


a ia 


Scene 


5 oe Saas 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE § 139 


CORNER CUPBOARDS 


The corner-cupboard was an article that appears to have been first 
made in England in the early part of the eighteenth century, and examples 
dating up to 1730 are found in walnut. Such examples, which are very 
rare, have solid and not glazed doors. The tops are sometimes straight 
and sometimes decorated with a broken-arch pediment. The rarity of this 
piece of furniture in walnut is accounted for by the fact that corner- 
cupboards up to 1745 were generally fixtures in the room and made in deal 
with the wainscotting. Early examples in mahogany or walnut were not, 
therefore, often made. A type of Dutch walnut corner-cupboard with glazed 
doors, sometimes decorated with marquetry, must not be mistaken by the 
collector for an English specimen. 


CHESTS-WITH-DRAWERS AND CHESTS-ON-STANDS 


The walnut chest-with-drawers was made in considerable numbers 
throughout the second half of the walnut period and even later. Examples 
are met with to-day in two sizes, the larger size 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches, and 
the smaller size 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches in width. ‘The best examples are 
those with oak-lined drawers and decorated with burr walnut, the poorer 
quality having straight-cut veneer and deal linings. A number of foreign 
chests will be met with in this country, and these can generally be 
recognized by the fact that the side of the chest is decorated with a fielded 
panel, whereas the English examples have their sides plain. 

The early chest-on-stand of this period is supported on slender cabriole 
legs, similar to the example illustrated, Plate XXXIII. Later chests have 
bolder legs, and sometimes have the knees decorated with an escallop shell. 
Very few examples have survived with claw-and-ball feet, as this piece of 
furniture was originally intended for a bedroom, and was not, therefore, a 
piece often made in an elaborate fashion. Generally, the chests have straight 
tops similar to the example illustrated, but more important specimens have 
survived with the broken-arch top. Some of the later examples will have 
the corners of the chest and stand canted and decorated with fluting ; but 
this feature is unlikely to appear on a chest of a date prior to 1730. 

As already mentioned these chests and chests-on-stands were made 
in walnut right up to 1745, and examples of the chest even later, and but 
few of them will be found in mahogany. 

The dates of existing examples can be determined by the mouldings 
on or round the drawer fronts as in other drawer furniture of this period ; 
and the remarks given in Chapter IV, concerning the legs to the stands, and 
the number that have had their patina destroyed by modern polishing, also 


140 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XXX 


A bookcase veneered with walnut, circa 1725. In the collection of Sir John 
Prestige. 


PLATE XX 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 141 


refer to these eighteenth-century specimens. ‘The variation in quality of 
both these articles is very noticeable, the earlier ones being usually of better 
quality than the later specimens. Many chests of poor quality will be 
found with the front only veneered and the sides formed by the carcase. 
The mouldings on the sides will also be worked in the solid and not cross- 
banded with walnut. Such pieces are of considerably less value now than 
those with the sides veneered and with cross-banded mouldings. 


TALLBOYS OR DOUBLE CHESTS 


The tallboy or double chest was a piece introduced in the early years 
of the eighteenth century. The earlier and rarer specimens are lower than 
the later examples, and the cornice has a cushion frieze with drawer similar 
to that on the writing-cabinet, Plate XII. Later examples are taller and have 
canted corners decorated with fluting, as sometimes found on the chest-on- 
stand. A decorative feature also met with on the tallboy is that the bottom 
drawer and plinth moulding are shaped and decorated with a niche inlaid 
with a star design. Some tallboys, similar to the chests-on-stands, will 
have the broken-arch top, but these are far rarer than those with the straight 
top. The later chests dating from 1740 have the ogee bracket instead of 
the plain bracket foot, and examples with such feet are generally found with 
the corners of the front canted. Another feature, found in some of these 
pieces, is a slide on which to brush clothes, which is pulled out from the 
lower part just above the top drawer. In some cases the two portions of 
the tallboy will have become separated and will be found converted into 
separate chests-with-drawers. Such chests will have been fitted with 
plain, unveneered tops, and the chest formed from the top portion will 
have had a plinth and bracket feet added to it. 

The notes just given concerning variations in quality of the chests- 
with-drawers and chests-on-stands also refer to tallboys. 

Many tallboys, especially of the later type, have survived, but this piece 
of furniture is not considered so valuable as the chest-on-stand, not having 
the lightness in design of the latter article. 


DRESSING- TABLES 


The small dressing-tables on legs and the pedestal dressing-table, 
similar to the two examples illustrated, Plate XXXIV (a and 3b), have both 
survived in considerable numbers in walnut from this half of the period. 
As already mentioned neither of these articles are likely to be found of a 
greater width than 3 feet. 


142 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


Like the legs of the chairs, the legs of the former table altered in design 
throughout this period, the earlier examples having slender cabriole legs, 
and the later the bolder cabriole, sometimes ending in a claw-and-ball foot 
similar to the rare specimen illustrated. The majority of these dressing- 
tables, however, are not likely to be found with legs of such an elaborate 
character, generally having the plain cabriole, ending in the club-foot, and, 
if ornamented at all, usually with a shell on the knee. As already mentioned, 
both these types of tables were undoubtedly intended for dressing-tables 
and not for writing-tables, as none of them originally had the top covered 
in velvet or leather. Examples with such tops have been converted at a 
later date to make them more convenient for use as writing-tables. 

Owing to their small size and inconvenience either as writing or dressing- 
tables, and also to the number that have survived, these tables are not very 
highly esteemed to-day, unless they have some unusual or ornate feature. 

Both these tables will be found in mahogany, especially the pedestal 
table, but these, like the other plain contemporary furniture in this wood, 
do not compare in decorative value with the walnut specimens. 

Owing to the absence of a genuine walnut dressing-table of convenient 
size, the imitator has supplied the want by a fictitious example made from 
the stand of a chest-with-drawers. He veneers the top; but, as already 
noted, the original legs of these stands being generally missing, he supplies 
new legs of an elaborate character, also cutting away the shaped apron-piece 
under the centre drawer to give space for the knees of the user. So much of 
this converted stand is modern that the collector should not have much 
difficulty in recognizing the imitator’s handiwork ; but he should in any 
case be wary of dressing-tables on legs which measure more than 3 feet in 
width, as it is highly improbable that they are genuine. 


TRIPOD FURNITURE 


The tripod table of the late seventeenth century developed in the 
eighteenth century into one similar to the example shown,* of about 1735, 
Plate XXVIII (4). This type of table with tripod foot must have become 
very fashionable in the second quarter of the eighteenth century, as many 
examples, both plain and decorated, have survived. ‘Tables in walnut of 
this type, whether plain or decorated, however, could have been but seldom 
made, the cabinet-maker perhaps being deterred, as with the gate-leg table, 


* Between these two varieties, however, there is a transitional type still retaining the scroll 
leg of the earlier tripod foot. Very few of these large tripod tables with scroll legs have survived, 
although Hogarth portrays several such tables in his pictures. These were most probably mahogany 
examples and not walnut. 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE 143 


by the difficulty of obtaining sufficiently large planks of walnut, after the 
sap wood had been cut away, to form a top of any size. The making of a 
solid walnut top in several pieces would not be satisfactory, as owing to the 
nature of the walnut wood it was liable to warp and split. This has happened 
to the walnut top of the example shown, as to prevent warping it was glued 
down on an oak foundation, now the only part of the top remaining. 

In the mahogany examples this difficulty would not occur, as sufficiently 
large pieces of mahogany could be obtained to turn the top out in one piece. 

The tops of the more important mahogany examples were sometimes 
decorated with the familiar pie-crust edge, but the cheaper tables had the 
edge either finished with a turned rim or left quite plain. 

Besides this tripod table a type of tall stand with tripod foot was made, 
presumably, to hold candlesticks. These stands, generally measuring 4 feet 
to 4 feet 6 inches in height, had gallery tops to retain the candlestick in its 
place, and the stem was decorated with turning and sometimes fluting, 
similar to the tables. Examples of these in walnut are, however, of extreme 
rarity, and the majority of existing specimens, which date from 1730 to the 
end of the period and later, will be found in mahogany. These candlestands, 
often met with in pairs, are very highly valued and much sought after. 
Spurious examples are generally in mahogany, and a certain number of 
them have had their carving enriched with gilding. This eighteenth 
century stand is taller than the earlier variety with twisted stem, already 
described and illustrated. 


FIRE SCREENS, CHEVAL AND TRIPOD POLE STANDS 


The cheval fire screen of the type illustrated, Plate XXXV (a), was first 
made in the reign of William III. The early specimens usually have the 
cresting to the frame, containing the needlework panel, elaborately decorated 
with carved and pierced foliage. Such examples, however, are but seldom 
English, as they nearly always contain Dutch or Flemish panels of needle- 
work, the English example of this type being much rarer. These screens 
of the eighteenth century are plain in design, similar to the example illus- 
trated; the majority, however, are generally in mahogany. Many 
spurious screens of the early elaborate type have been made within recent 
years by the imitator, who mounts in the frames genuine panels of needle- 
work. 

The present-day value of the cheval screen depends to a great extent 
upon the fineness of the stitch of the needlework and also upon whether 
it is a floral or a figure subject, the latter, similar to the example illustrated, 
being by far the more valuable. 


vas 


= 


PLaTE XXXI 


oy ine 
4 


te ey 


(a) A walnut circular-top card table, supported on turned and tapered legs 
connected by stretchers, circa 1700. In the collection of J. Thursby — 
Pelham, Esq. ee 


(6) A walnut card table with the knees of cabriole legs : 
eagles’ heads, circa 1725. In the collection of Percival L 
Esq. | . : Rent 


PLATE XXXI 


7 i i? a a _ 7 7 7\ 
; ‘ ~ -. = iy ie rei a g's 
> - n , 
4 
. A 
oy ee 
Se eS 
o, taeae 
r 
* 
+ 
. 


. 


QUEEN ANNE & GEORGIAN WALNUT FURNITURE = 145 


All these screens were made so that the frame containing the needle- 
work could be raised and lowered, it being made to run in grooves in the 
two side supports. 

The tripod pole screen, similar to the tripod table, is but seldom found 
in walnut, the majority extant being in mahogany. Specimens in the latter 
wood, dating from about 1730 onwards, have survived in considerable 
numbers, both with the decorated tripod foot and stem, and also with the 
plain tripod foot. The earlier and rarer examples in walnut are generally 
smaller in the spread of the tripod foot, and have the knee of the leg carved 
with a shell, as example illustrated, Plate XX XV (d). 

Many tripod stands of these pole screens have been transformed within 
recent times into tables. Such a conversion is easily recognized by the fact 
that the stand of a screen, being lower than that of a table, will have a piece 
added on to bring it up to table height. The stem of a tripod table, on the 
contrary, will always be in one piece ; and, if otherwise, it can be definitely 
assumed that it is a pole-stand converted. 


WALNUT MIRRORS 


The mirror with walnut frame does not appear to have been much 
favoured in the eighteenth century, being replaced, as already stated, by the 
more popular gilt-framed mirror. The most usual type of walnut mirror 
in the reign of Queen Anne and George I is tall and narrow, with shaped 
top and hood. ‘The frames are sometimes of half-round section, or flat 
with moulded edges, and similar to the earlier mirrors ; many of this type 
have lost their hoods. 

Besides this mirror, another type, dating from the reigns of George I 
and George II, has an architectural character, with swan-neck or broken 
pediment top, and shaped frame. ‘The mouldings and ornamentation to 
the mirror are of gilt, but the frame will be found overlaid with either 
walnut or mahogany veneer, and more often with the latter. 

The imitator does not pay much attention to walnut mirrors of this 
period, with the exception of the very rare overmantel mirror with a walnut 
frame. ‘These mirrors were intended to rest on the chimneypiece, and 
were designed with a horizontal mirror divided into three plates surmounted 
by an oil-painting depicting a landscape or still-life subject. The genuine 
example is but seldom found; but many imitations have been made, an 
old picture being utilized for the purpose. 

Another type of overmantel mirror is one with three plates as described 
above, but without the decorative feature of the picture surmounting it. 
This mirror is but seldom found with a walnut frame, most examples being 

K 


146 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


framed in a narrow gilt gesso moulding. Owing to their ready sale to-day, 
the imitator has made many spurious examples, sometimes of the type with 
projecting square corners, the mouldings being gilt, and the frame veneered 
with walnut. 

Examination of the backs of these mirror frames will disclose the faked 
surface of the deal or pine, very unlike the mature surface of the genuine 
specimen. ‘To hide the new wood the imitator will paint and coat it with 
dark stain and varnish ; but if the surface is tested by an incision with a 
penknife, as described on page 45, the spurious nature of the piece will 
be disclosed. The remarks concerning the bevelling and the painted back 
of the new mirror plate given on page 135 should also be remembered. 


"rin, 


BEDSTEADS 


The upholstered bed of the previous period would appear to have 
remained in favour for the first twenty-five or thirty years of the eighteenth 
century. An example of an upholstered bed is portrayed in one of Hogarth’s 
pictufes of ‘‘ Marriage 4 la mode.” 

When mahogany began to be used for furniture-making, this uphol- 
stered type was superseded by the mahogany bedstead, with plain, fluted 
front posts; the latter again becoming a decorative feature, as they had 
been in the earlier oak beds. 

These early mahogany four-post bedsteads, however, still retained the 
shaped and moulded cornice to the tester top covered with the upholstering 
fabric like the previous bedstead. The posts of the mahogany bedsteads 
grew more elaborate in design until about 1750, when the cornices are 
sometimes found in mahogany with carved ornament, instead of the earlier 
covered examples. 

There is no record of a genuine bedstead with walnut posts, the walnut 
wood going out of fashion before the bedstead with carved posts came into 
vogue. i | | 


CHAPTER VII 


LACQUER FURNITURE 
1660-1730 


N the England of Elizabethan times, Oriental products were’ not 

unknown, both the Dutch and English East India Companies having 

been formed in this reign; and such articles of Oriental manu- 

facture as Chinese cabinets, carpets, screens, and embroideries figure 

in late sixteenth and early seventeenth-century inventories. Both 
Holland and Portugal were largely interested in the Eastern trade, the 
volume of which greatly increased during the seventeenth century, and a 
new vogue for things Oriental influenced both France and Holland in the 
latter half of the century. On the accession of Charles II this Oriental 
taste spread to England under the auspices of the Court ; a part of the dowry 
of the Queen, Catherine of Braganza, consisted of ‘‘ Indian” cabinets, 
porcelain, and fabrics. In those days the products of the East were termed 
‘* Indian.” 

The king and his brother, the Duke of York, also owned ‘‘ Indian ” 
cabinets, which are referred to by Evelyn and Pepys ; and both these 
celebrated diarists make mention of “‘ Indian ” pieces in houses that they 
visited, which shows that at this period Oriental products were sufficiently 
uncommon as to call for special notice. 

These “ Indian ” cabinets and screens were of lacquer, and after their 
introduction into English Court circles, lacquer ware began to be imported 
into England in considerable quantity. To meet the increasing demand for 
lacquer furniture, designs of European pieces were sent out to the East, 
so that the Chinese and Japanese could make their lacquer furniture on the 
lines of the European. The vogue for Eastern lacquer also induced the 
European cabinet-makers to start making lacquer in imitation of the Oriental 
product. The lacquer work executed in England was called “ Japanning,”’ 
and became so popular that it was not only made commercially, but de- 
veloped into a fashionable pastime; and for the guidance of interested 
amateurs, A Treatise of fapanning and Varnishing was published in 1688 
by Stalker and Parker, which gave many recipes and designs for carrying out 
** japan ” work. 

147 


Si 


ITUR > 
Pe 


PLATE XXXII 


A walnut card table with lion masks Hecker knees e leg 


table serpentine in shape, circa 1735. In the collec 
Griffiths, Esq. 2 


PLATE XXXII 


a F# 


SE I aE 


oP ge 


LACQUER FURNITURE 149 


The importation of “‘ Indian ”’ lacquered furniture by the merchants 
in the late seventeenth century seriously affected the trade of the European 
manufacturers ; and caused an outcry amongst the artisans of Holland, 
France, and England for laws to protect the native industries, although it 
was admitted at the time that the Oriental lacquer work was far superior 
to any that was produced in Europe. 

The lacquer imported into England from the East can be divided, 
roughly, into two varieties, one similar to that illustrated, Plate XXXIX, 
on which the ornament was raised in parts ; and the other, called incised or 
cut lacquer, in which the design was cut in the surface and afterwards 
decorated with colours. ‘The Oriental lacquer has a hard, lustrous surface, 
being made from the resin of gum trees, whereas the European substitute 
was more in the nature of paint and varnish. 

The supply of designs for English pieces to the Oriental makers, and 
the making of “japanned ” furniture in England, led to the decoration 
with lacquer of many other articles besides the Oriental cabinet and screen ; 
in fact, it is probable that every article that was made in walnut was also 
made in English lacquer. In addition to furniture, the wainscotting of 
rooms was also decorated with lacquer.* 

The lacquer furniture of English production was identical in every 
way to the walnut examples, the carcase being made of deal or oak, as 
already described. Many of the best quality pieces appear to have been 
veneered before they were lacquered. This was done to obtain a smoother 
and better surfacet and to cover up the joins of the carcase, which, through 
shrinkage, would open and cause the lacquer to crack. When covered with 
veneer the risk of cracking would be considerably lessened, and would 
only occur if the veneer, itself, split. A number of veneered walnut pieces 
were undoubtedly lacquered at a later date in the eighteenth century ; and 
this would also account for a number of examples having veneer under the 
lacquer. But as lacquered cabinets, which were not made in the walnut wood, 
are found veneered, this tends to prove that the carcase of high quality 
pieces, specially made for lacquering, were first overlaid with veneer. The 
mouldings of such pieces are in the solid and not cross-banded, as they 
would be on walnut pieces that were lacquered at a subsequent date. 

The pieces of Oriental manufacture, although similar in design and 


* Celia Fiennes records in her diary (temp. William and Mary) that at Burghley House, 
Stamford, the seat of Lord Exeter, ‘‘ My Lady’s Closet is very ffine, the wanscoate of the best 
Jappan.” 

+ In deal and oak, the shrinkage of the softer fibres between the harder year rings results 
in the latter standing out, and this feature will be seen on many pieces which have been lacquered 
direct on the carcase without veneering. 


=< a yo ¥ — 4 . _. - ee Se es ee ial 7 . i“ * 
ek A) es Ri : > Fe ee oe he rr ; 2 ; 


150 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE _ "3 


of 
~*~ i 
¥ 


ian 


-PLate XXXIII 

A chest-with-drawers on stand overlaid with walnut veneer, 
g ins., circa 1705. In the collection of Mrs. T. D. Wilso 
, ee. 


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wel 2 i oes 
1h + % s -~ 

/ ¥ ; é MALTS Rite ty 
ve [ - r Ls , 

ena 4 ~ ee aa 

1 ey , ¢ we. a a 

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ae § Pe eee eo seule Sek at ; 
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nana a Os i a Ps 2 ‘ ‘ 
ay ty 9 i a ; ir. 


PLATE XXXIII 


cMApceneae, 


’ 


LACQUER FURNITURE 151 


form to the English, varied in the smaller details, and especially in the 
execution of the cabinet work ; the dovetails were very coarse, and, in some 
cases, where they were omitted, the sides of the drawers were held together 
with wooden pegs. The mounts were also much thinner than on the 
English examples, and were sometimes of Oriental design, as seen on the 
example illustrated, Plate XX XIX. 

Both the exterior and interior of the drawer linings will be found 
painted in the Oriental pieces, whereas in the best English examples, in which 
the drawer-linings were of oak, the insides of the drawers only were painted, 
generally a dull red and sprinkled with gold. On the poor quality English 
pieces, made with deal linings, both the interiors and the exteriors of the 
drawers were usually painted, similar to the Oriental examples. 

Although a very large quantity of furniture of Oriental make must 
have been imported into England in the late seventeenth century, a much 
larger quantity of the English “‘ japanned ”’ work has survived. Like the 
existing walnut furniture, the greater part of the lacquer furniture dates 
from the first twenty-five or thirty years of the eighteenth century, as 
the examples of seventeenth-century lacquer extant are mostly confined to 
the cabinets-with-doors mounted on stands. This type of cabinet was 
undoubtedly the earliest piece to be imported into England from the East 
in the reign of Charles II ; and it appears, also, to be the earliest piece that 
was made in the English “ japan.” 

Judging from the lacquer furniture extant, certain articles have sur- 
vived in far larger numbers than others ; for instance, many square cabinets- 
with-doors and long-case clocks are in existence. The reason for the sur- 
vival of so many clock-cases, however, is attributable to the fact that, while 
lacquer furniture went out of vogue about 1730, the use of lacquer for 
decorating clock-cases continued up to the end of the century. In this 
respect they are analogous to the marquetry clock-cases, which, as already 
mentioned, continued to be made for ten or fifteen years after marquetry 
furniture had declined in favour. 

Owing to the perishable nature of lacquer furniture, the amount that 
has survived can only be a small part of what was originally made; and 
the fact that some articles exist to-day in larger numbers than others 1s 
due to the nature of such pieces being better fitted to withstand the wear of 
time and use. 

The Oriental lacquer furniture also shows a preponderance of certain 
articles ; for instance, the cabinet, the bureau-bookcase, and the chest with 
domed lid, have survived in larger numbers than other pieces. The long- 
case clock in Oriental lacquer is practically unknown. ‘The incised or cut 
lacquer, as found to-day, is generally confined to screens, to cabinets mounted 


152 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


on stands, and to chests. Many of the two latter articles have been made 
from incised lacquer screens, as the panels on the doors and sides do not 
contain a complete design. Besides cabinets and chests, a few rare tables, 
mirror frames, and other articles of furniture have also survived made from 
panels obtained from the coromandel screens; in fact, the majority of 
incised pieces extant would appear to have been formed in this manner, 
as but few will be found with panels specially made for the articles which 
they decorate. Such pieces were made in England from the imported 
screens. 

Lacquer decoration on English furniture was carried out with various 
coloured backgrounds, by far the most favoured being the black, as the 
majority of the surviving pieces have the background of this colour. More 
valuable pieces, however, are those with the red ground, as such examples 
are not only of far more decorative value, but are extremely scarce. Pieces 
of lacquer with blue and green backgrounds have also survived, the blue 
perhaps being the rarer of the two; but the rarest of all the colours is the 
cream or pale yellow, and only a few pieces are known to exist with this 
rare ground. Both the Oriental and English lacquer declined in favour 
about 1730 ; the incised lacquer variety, however, appears never to have been 
very popular in England, and the majority of the cabinets, screens and 
chests with this lacquer that have survived would appear to date from the 
seventeenth rather than the eighteenth century. 

Lacquer furniture would seem, from existing examples of it, to have 
been specially favoured for use in bedrooms, which in the early eighteenth 
century were often decorated in the Chinese taste, the walls sometimes 
being hung with papers of Oriental design. About 1750 lacquer again came 
into favour, which fact can be gathered from the published designs of the 
cabinet-makers of that period, as many examples are given which it is 
suggested would look well if treated with “‘ japan.” ‘The majority of these 
later designs were also for pieces of bedroom furniture. Many more examples 
of the earlier lacquer have survived, however, than of this middle eighteenth- 
century revival ; and, as this later variety is outside the walnut period, it does 
not come within the purview of this book. 

The present-day condition of the majority of old lacquer pieces shows 
them to be in varying states of disrepair, for lacquer, unlike walnut, has 
not improved by age ; use and wear having the effect of denting and scratch- 
ing the surface and wearing off the gilding from the raised portions of 
the design. ‘This scratching and denting of the surface, however, is more 
general on the softer English lacquer than on the harder surface of the 
Oriental; but the latter, owing to this very quality of hardness, has a 
tendency to crack and chip off in a manner similar to veneer, in addition to 


LACQUER FURNITURE 153 


which the colours of the design sink in, and the gold wears off. The incised 
or cut lacquer has stood the wear of age better than the other two varieties. 

A large quantity of the English lacquer has also been ruined through 
its surface being coated with a thick opaque varnish, which in some cases 
has entirely hidden the design; in fact, on some pieces only the raised 
portions are now to be seen. This varnishing of old pieces, probably for 
the purpose of renovation, appears to have been confined to the English 
examples, as the highly polished surface of the Oriental would not be 
improved by such treatment. 

The decorative value of those pieces, both of Oriental and English 
lacquer, which have their gilt design standing out in brilliant contrast to 
the darker background, is markedly superior to the worn or varnished 
example which has only the merit of age to recommend it. In the former 
piece, the patches of colour used in the design will add their quota to the 
decorative effect, whereas in the varnished example the colours will not be 
distinguishable. Many pieces which, originally, had a blue or green ground 
have been so heavily varnished in recent years that the background now 
appears to be black ; and it is owing to this pernicious practice, in the past, 
of renovating lacquer with thick mastic varnish that the brilliant piece is 
So scarce at the present time. 

Besides the varnished example, many English pieces are extant with 
their surfaces much restored. In some cases this has been done so well that 
it is only by very careful examination that the restored parts. can be dis- 
cerned. The Oriental pieces with the raised design are not so often found 
restored owing to the difficulty of imitating this type of lacquer, which, 
as already stated, varies considerably from the English variety. 

Apart from the difficulty of finding a piece in brilliant condition, the 
collector will have to contend with a very large quantity of spurious lacquer 
that has been made ; and it is no exaggeration to say that more than two- 
thirds of the lacquer furniture sold as antique is fraudulent. This, however, 
refers to the English lacquer, as the Oriental variety with the raised design 
is not imitated. The incised or cut lacquer, which it is possible to repro- 
duce, as described later, has also received its share of attention from the 
imitator. 

Just as there are degrees of quality in fraudulent walnut examples, so 
there are similar degrees in the spurious lacquer, the pieces made by the 
commercial imitator having by no means the same resemblance to the old 
example as those made by the skilled faker. In fact, the productions of the 
former are generally offered to the public under the guise of “ an old but 
not period ” piece ; and by this rather subtle description a better price is 
more readily obtained for them than if they were described as of new 


154 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XXXIV 


(5) A dressing-table on cabriole legs terminating in claw and ball feet, 
circa 1730. In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, Esq. 


(a) A knee-hole pedestal dressing-table overlaid with walnut veneer, circa 
1735. In the collection of Patrick Hastings, Esq., K.C. 


PLATE XXXIV 


a A ewe, 


ee lone ye ag 


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ty 


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Sadie 


toy 


LACQUER FURNITURE Iss 


manufacture. The skilled faker of old lacquer, however, has more confidence 
in his wares, and proclaims them to be genuine specimens of the reign of 
Queen Anne, and the prices he obtains are, in consequence, considerably 
higher. 

This variation in spurious lacquer is specially noticeable in regard to 
the gilding. In poor work the gold design will be made with bronze powder, 
whereas in the high quality work gold leaf will be employed. ‘The dullness 
of the former in comparison to the transparent brilliance of the latter is 
specially noticeable ; for the bronze powder has not the lasting properties 
of the real gold, which improves by age. The deep rich colour of the gold 
on the old piece is attributable to the thin varnish with which the lacquer 
surface was originally finished. The mellowing of this varnish by long 
exposure to the atmosphere gives to the gold the same rich, translucent 
effect that it gives to the walnut wood. The imitator also finishes his piece 
with varnish, and this will produce in time the same effect as it has done 
on the old piece. 

The surface of the old lacquer, both of the background and the raised, 
gilded portions of the design, will be found to have a network of fine hair 
cracks. ‘The imitator, however, to obtain, immediately, an appearance of 
age, cracks the surface of his lacquer artificially by applying a paste over it ; 
and the contraction of this paste in drying cracks the varnish with which 
the lacquer has been coated. This artificial method of cracking the lacquer 
‘surface makes cracks of quite a different nature to those found on a genuine 
piece. The cracks on the latter, if closely examined, will seem to extend not 
only through the varnish but also the coating of lacquer ; but on the spurious 
piece the varnish on the top of the lacquer only is affected. The artificial 
cracks, moreover, are large ; in fact, very similar to those sometimes found 
on old oil paintings which have been heavily varnished. The collector 
who is desirous of purchasing only genuine pieces should make himself 
familiar with the cracking of the spurious piece, as this knowledge will stand 
him in good stead when determining the authenticity of an example. 

Besides the artificial cracking of the spurious example, the surface of 
the lacquer will be soft, very unlike the hard and dry surface of the genuine 
piece. It will take a number of years for the modern lacquer to harden, and 
examples of recent manufacture, therefore, can be tested in this respect. 

The surface of a genuine lacquer piece will also show signs of wear. 
For instance, on the flap of a bureau, or a cupboard door that has been 
constantly handled, the lacquer will have worn off and, in some cases, shows 
the wooden carcase underneath. The raised portions of the design, which 
are usually gilt, will have the gilding worn away, disclosing the white com- 
position of which these raised parts are formed. This wearing away of the 


PLATE XXXV 


(5) A walnut tripod pole fire-screen with panel BE petit shane needlewc 
circa ates In the collection of Percival D. Griffiths, eae 


7™ 


(a) A walnut cheval fire-screen with octagonal pacel of. peit Ps 
work with gros point border, circa 1725. In the collec 
Partridge, Esq. Ags 


: ae gs . eG ae 
a ite. 2 Tale 


PLATE XXXV 


B 


LACQUER FURNITURE 157 


gilding will have occurred on those parts of the piece which have been 
dusted constantly, like the flap of a bureau, or the top of a table; the 
mouldings on the front of a piece, also, will have the lacquering and gilding 
more worn and rubbed than those on the sides. On the spurious example, 
however, the wearing of the gilding on the raised design will be general 
over the whole of the piece, as the imitator, to give it an antique appearance, 
treats every part in the same manner, and does not graduate the treatment 
according to the wear which each part would naturally receive. This 
question of the wear of the lacquer is a useful factor in determining 
whether a piece is genuine or not. 

The imitator who sets out to deceive his customers does not usually 
make pieces of new construction, but will confine his efforts to lacquering 
old articles, as by this expedient, he saves himself the trouble of faking the 
carcase of a piece, and has only to treat the exterior lacquered surface. He 
will, for instance, take an old walnut chest-with-drawers or a secretaire 
with fall-down front, and strip off the old veneer, which he afterwards uses 
for veneering a spurious piece of walnut ; and he then proceeds to lacquer 
the stripped carcase. This lacquering of old pieces he will carry out on any 
examples that he considers suitable for the purpose ; and in the following 
notes, on various pieces of old lacquer furniture, mention will be made of 
those pieces of which spurious imitations are usually made by this method. 


CABINETS 


The cabinet and the coromandel screen are the earliest pieces of lacquer 
that have survived ; the former both in the Oriental lacquer and in the 
English “‘ japan.” ‘The early cabinets of the Charles II period, of Eastern 
manufacture, were mounted on stands after their arrival in this country, 
similar to the example illustrated, Plate I. The English cabinets were 
also mounted on similar stands, and from examples of both the Oriental 
and English cabinets extant there appear to be many more of the latter than 
of the former in existence. The Oriental cabinet is also found on an Oriental 
lacquer stand ; but such cabinets are by no means to-day of such interest 
and value as the English examples. The stands altered in design according 
to the prevailing fashion, the early examples being decorated with cupids 
and figures amidst foliage, similar to the two specimens illustrated. Later 
examples, dating from the time of William and Mary, show the influence of 
“Te style refugié.” Cabinets were also mounted in this reign on lacquered 
stands with turned legs connected by flat stretchers, similar to the stands 
of the chests-with-drawers. The Queen Anne cabinet was mounted on a 
stand with cabriole legs, generally “‘ japanned,” and the cabinets of the 


158 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


George I period will be found on stands with the cabriole leg ending in the 
claw-and-ball foot; while other rare specimens of the early eighteenth 
century have survived with carved and gilt stands, having cabriole legs 
ending in claw-and-ball or lion-paw feet, and the knees of the legs some- 
times decorated with masks. Another type of stand of this period is the one 
made of gilt gesso, usually with cabriole legs, on which the ornament is in 
low relief, carved out of composition laid on the wood. 

The early stands of the Charles II and William and Mary periods were 
both gilt and silvered, but the latter process must have been more usual, as 
the majority of the finest seventeenth-century cabinets extant have the 
silvered stand. Sometimes a cabinet was mounted on a base-with-drawers, 
or a cupboard-with-doors, but neither of these pieces have the same decora- 
tive appearance as the example on stand. 

The majority of the cabinets extant have the black ground, and a 
number have also survived with the red. The blue, green, and yellow grounds 
do not appear to have been favoured for the decoration of these cabinets, 
as genuine examples with these colours are but rarely met with ; in fact, it is 
doubtful whether a genuine cabinet with a yellow or cream background is 
in existence. Some cabinets will also be found decorated with what is called 
tortoise-shell lacquer, in which the background is an imitation of tortoise- 
shell, being a dull red colour with dark markings. ‘The design is in gold 
similar to the other types of lacquer. 

The high value and rarity of the Charles II and William and Mary 
cabinets, on carved and silvered or gilt stands, has led to many spurious 
specimens being made by the imitator. These are sometimes of entirely 
new construction ; but in other cases the imitator will re-lacquer genuine 
cabinets which, owing to their bad condition, are of little value. 

The spurious lacquer cabinets of the imitator will usually be found 
with either a red, blue, green or yellow background, as he finds the cabinet 
with the black ground does not sell so readily. The rarity of the red lacquer 
cabinet, and the fact that cabinets with grounds in the other colours are 
practically unknown, should make the collector view with suspicion any 
supposed genuine example with these rare backgrounds that he may come 
across. 

The genuine lacquer cabinet will usually have the doors cracked owing to 
the shrinkage of the carcase, and the interior of the cabinet will be brighter 
and fresher in colour than the exterior. This is particularly noticeable in 
the red lacquer examples, and if one of the hinges is removed from a cabinet 
of this description it will be seen that the red ground covered up by the 
hinge is very much brighter and fresher than the exposed surface surrounding 
it. In the spurious red lacquer cabinet these peculiarities will not be found, 


LACQUER FURNITURE 159 


and, although the imitator may fake the exterior to a darker tone than the 
interior, he does not make a difference between the colour of the ground 
at the back of the mounts and that of the surface around them. (The same 
peculiarity has also been noted on walnut furniture, see page 45). 

Concerning the stands, many spurious, elaborately carved and silvered 
or gilt specimens, similar in design to the examples illustrated, are to be met 
with. The fine network of cracks over the old gilding already described on 
page 49, and which on genuine silvered work is, if anything, more pro- 
nounced than on the gilt, will not be found on the spurious stands. On 
examination of the back of a genuine stand it will be seen that the surface 
of the deal from which the stand is made is left exposed. The imitator, 
owing to the difficulty of faking these parts on his spurious stand, usually 
coats them with paint; in fact, he will sometimes silver or gild a 
spurious stand, and then entirely paint it a dark chocolate-brown or black. 
Many genuine stands will be found treated in this manner, presumably 
because a past owner considered a stand too garish or bright in the room 
and therefore toned down its appearance with paint. Knowing that the 
collector is aware of the existence of such painted stands, from which it is 
possible to remove the paint and leave the gilding or silvering underneath 
intact, the imitator copies such stands and chips and knocks off pieces of 
the paint, to show to the intending purchaser that he has only to remove 
the paint to possess a stand with its “‘ original’’ gilding or silvering. 

The carving of the spurious stand has a rounded appearance, and not 
the crisp, sharp cutting to the foliage and flowers of the genuine example. 
The design of the foliage with cupids or other motifs in the spurious stand 
will be monotonous and lack the verve of the original. On a genuine 
stand the gilding in parts, with the composition ground, will have been 
knocked off, disclosing the deal underneath ; these defects will seldom be 
found on the spurious stand, as if the imitator discloses the new wood of 
the stand he will have to incur the trouble of making it appear old. A 
number of genuine cabinets, whose original stands have been lost, or which 
are plain in character, like those dating from the time of Queen Anne, will 
have been fictitiously enhanced in value by being mounted on fraudulent 
stands, generally of an elaborate design, displaying lion heads, or Indian 
masks. As already mentioned, this later type of gilt stand is to-day excep- 
tionally rare; in fact, much more so than the gilt or silvered example of 
the seventeenth century. A style of leg which the imitator has frequently 
used on this type of spurious gilt stand is the one similar to that of 
the stool, Plate XVII (a). Such legs on the spurious stands are usually 
decorated with scaling. 

Another variation between the modern and genuine cabinet is that the 


160 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XXXVI 


(a) A knee-hole secretaire overlaid with burr walnut veneer, circa 1700. 
(The original bracket feet of this piece are missing.) In the collection 
of C. H. F. Kinderman, Esq. 


(b) A knee-hole pedestal dressing-table, of Oriental workmanship, decorated 
with black and gold lacquer, circa 1725. (The handles of this piece 
are not original.) In the collection of Geoffrey D. Hobson, Esq. 


PLATE XXXVI 


so et 


B 


LACQUER FURNITURE 161 


mounts of the latter are usually water-gilt. The imitator does not generally 
go to the expense of this treatment, but leaves his mounts in plain brass and 
tones them down to give them the appearance of age. Such mounts not 
being lacquered will go dark by exposure to the atmosphere, like the brass 
handles on walnut furniture as described on page 50. 

Genuine Oriental cabinets decorated with incised or cut lacquer are 
to-day of extreme rarity and considerable value. As already mentioned, 
the majority of the genuine examples were made up out of the panels of a 
coromandel screen ; but few of them are found with panels containing a 
complete design, showing that they were specially made for the cabinet. 
Although the genuine incised cabinet formed from a screen is extremely 
rare, the same cannot be said of those cabinets which have been made from 
screens within recent years. As these screens are decorated on both sides 
the imitator, in carrying out this conversion, splits down or saws in two 
each fold, and the lacquer panels thus obtained he cuts up and fits on to 
the carcases of the cabinets which he has formed from old material. By 
cutting up a screen in this manner, the imitator is able to make half a dozen 
incised lacquer cabinets from one screen; and the value of the cabinets 
being far in excess of that of the screen, it pays him well to carry out this 
deceit. The imitator, besides making these incised cabinets from old screens, 
also makes many examples with new incised lacquer, of which lacquer it is 
possible for him to make a passable imitation. In reproducing it, he first 
covers the surface of the wood with thin successive layers of a preparation 
of whiting and size, to form the coating in which the design is to be cut. 
The process of cutting he sometimes simplifies by covering the prepared 
surface with a thin coating of wax, on which he prints a transfer of the 
design, and then removes the wax where required by the pattern. Acid is 
applied on the surface and this eats into the composition ground where it 
is not protected by the wax, the corrosive action of the acid being stopped 
when it has proceeded far enough. On removal of the wax the surface will 
be found etched away according to the design. By this means the cutting 
out of the design in the composition ground is accomplished with far less 
expenditure of time and labour than if the work was done by hand. 

The difference between old and new incised lacquer is specially notice- 
able in the colouring, that of the latter being garish and inharmonious com- 
pared with the soft and richer colours of the old work. The variation in 
the tone of the green is specially marked ; that on the genuine example is 
similar to the green on old famille verte porcelain, whereas the modern work 
has the green much harsher and more blue in tone ; the difference between 
the reds is also equally pronounced. 

When a modern piece of incised lacquer is damaged, it will show the 

L 


‘ 
4 


PLare XXXVII__ 
A cabinet decorated with English red and fa lacquer on. 
silvered stand, circa 1685. In the collection of Frank 


ys Wy IT 


PLATE 


ee oe) or we ae oe 


Be a is 


’ 
. 
A 
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‘ s 
> a : 
io ’ 
> ’ 
a 
. a 
ty 
‘ 
i 
‘ 
id ‘ 
. 


LACQUER FURNITURE 163 


white or grey ground formed by the composition underneath ; but on the 
genuine incised lacquer the ground, where disclosed, will be of a dark 
brown colour, resembling papier m4aché, as it was chiefly composed of very 
fine clay, gum and vegetable fibre. The highly polished, hard lacquer 
which covers the ground on the flat surfaces will, as already mentioned, 
crack and chip off like veneer. This will not be seen on the imitation. . 


BUREAUX AND BUREAU-BOOKCASES 


Genuine examples of both these pieces in English lacquer have sur- 
vived, but there are many more bureau-bookcases than bureaux. Examples 
of the small bureau-on-legs are also extant ; but rare as the walnut specimens 
are, the lacquer ones are still rarer. 

The bureau-bookcase is found with the black, red and green grounds. 
A fine example with the green ground is shown in Plate XXXVIII. The 
green and red, however, are by no means so frequently seen as the black. 
The narrow bureau-bookcase in lacquer would be a very rare piece to find, 
and although a number must have been made, very few have survived in 
comparison with the number of the more ordinary examples of 3 feet to 
3 feet 6 inches. Unfortunately, many genuine specimens of the bureau- 
bookcase, decorated with the English lacquer, will be found in bad 
condition, especially in regard to the fall-front of the bureau. Notes 
concerning the mirrors in the walnut bureau-bookcase also refer to those in 
the lacquer examples. 

Spurious imitations of these articles will not be found of new construc- 
tion like the cabinets, but will be old examples with their surfaces lacquered, 
bureaux being specially favoured by the imitator for this treatment. To 
detect these old pieces, with drawers, which have been decorated with 
modern lacquer, examination should be made of the front of the drawer 
and the drawer sides, as the imitator often allows the lacquer to flow over 
the dovetails on the sides, which he forgets to fake like the lacquering on the 
drawer front. If, therefore, the paint or lacquer on the front edges of the 
drawer sides has a fresh appearance, suspicion should be aroused. 

Oriental examples of these pieces (see Plate XXXIX), are much rarer 
than those decorated with English lacquer. The Oriental bureau-bookcase 
will not be found with mirror panels in the top part similar to the English 
specimen, but will have lacquered panels as in the example illustrated. 


CHAIRS 


The surviving lacquer chairs from their design are of the early eighteenth- 
century type. This tends to show, as already stated, that the seventeenth- 


PLATE XXXVI 


_A bureau wrriting-cabinet decorated with English green and | g 
with bevelled mirror plates in doors surmounted by 
top, circa 1715. In the collection of Frank Partrcecs i 


PLATE XXXVIII 


eae sd 


7 


LACQUER FURNITURE 165 


century lacquer pieces were mainly confined to cabinets, and that other 
articles decorated with it date from the first twenty-five or thirty years of 
the eighteenth century. Chairs are found both in the English “ japan ”’ 
and the Oriental lacquer, the former being generally of the type with 
cabriole legs, and a shaped hooped-back and central splat. A type of hall 
chair with high, solid back and a wooden lacquered seat has survived 
decorated in Oriental lacquer. Both the English and Oriental lacquer chairs 
are, however, extremely rare. Undoubtedly, a quantity must have been 
made, but the small number surviving is attributable to the fact that a 
chair, of all articles, is one on which the lacquer is most likely to get damaged 
or worn, and being made of beech they would not be likely to be preserved 
after the lacquer decoration had become shabby. 

The imitator makes lacquer chairs generally of new construction, both 
because genuine chairs of the period are too rare and valuable to be lacquered, 
and because, in a chair, only the undersides of the seat-rails are left 
unlacquered, and these do not give him much trouble to fake, especially if he 
makes the rails out of old material. 


TABLES 


The lacquer table to-day is extremely rare. A few examples of the 
oblong tables with scroll legs are extant in the English lacquer ; and a few 
specimens of both the early circular-top card table of the William and Mary 
period and the later square-top card table with cabriole legs have also 
survived. Oriental lacquer card tables are not unknown ; but the extreme 
rarity of all types of lacquer tables, and the very bad state of repair of the 
tops of those that are extant, make the specimen that is in good condition 
an extremely valuable piece. Specimens of the seventeenth-century oblong 
table, decorated with incised Oriental lacquer, are also known, but these 
are of extreme rarity and value. 

The commercial imitator makes many card tables of new construction. 
He also lacquers the plain oak or mahogany tripod-table, and sometimes 
the oak gate-legged table ; but such examples the collector should ignore, 
as not only are they in bad taste, but they bear no resemblance to any genuine 
lacquer table of the period. 


CHESTS-WITH-DRAWERS AND CHESTS-WITH-STANDS 


A number of chests-with-drawers have survived, but, like the rest of 
the lacquered furniture, these pieces, especially their tops, are seldom 
found in good repair. The lacquer chest-on-stand, similar to the walnut 
example, is seldom found with the stand intact; the majority being 


PLATE XXXIX | 


_ A bureau writing-cabinet, of Oriental workmanship, decora € 
or paw lacquer, circa 1730. In the collection of Sir % 
B : 


PEALE OeNX 


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Ris cscs SUS iN AUN ES a RRR sic etinentcotmnnobitieettn ces tll Aslan isin 


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S %- Aaa a 
7 : 
eT a 
) 


LACQUER FURNITURE 167 


remounted on modern stands.* These chests-with-drawers and chests-on- 
stands are nearly always found with a black ground, examples with either 
red, blue, or green grounds being very exceptional, especially those of the 
first-named colour. 

The chest-with-drawers is a very favourite piece for the imitator to 
reproduce with his spurious lacquer; and he is particularly fond of the 
red background, knowing full well the attractiveness that it adds to a piece. 
He either uses old walnut chests-with-drawers from which he strips off the 
veneer, or the oak chests-with-drawers ; and, occasionally, he will use 
mahogany chests. Needless to say, if a collector comes across a piece of 
lacquer furniture, the carcase of which is made of mahogany, he need not 
carry his investigations any further, as he has obtained sufficient proof of the 
spurious nature of the example. The favourite type of mahogany chest- 
with-drawers that the imitator uses for his lacquer work is one without the 
projecting top, and with the overlapping drawer front, as these chests, 
which are fairly numerous, are more in consonance with the furniture of 
the lacquer period. Although he will not be guilty of lacquering a bow- 
fronted chest-with-drawers, as such chests date from the last quarter of the 
eighteenth century, he will often forget to pierce his new lacquer on the 
outsides of the drawer fronts to correspond with the holes of former sets 
of handles, as described on page 97. 


CHESTS 


A number of Oriental chests with domed or flat lids have survived, 
both in the raised and in the incised lacquer. Such chests were imported 
from the East in the time of William and Mary and later, and were mounted 
on English stands, sometimes with turned and tapered legs connected by 
stretchers, and occasionally with supports of a more elaborate design, such 
as carved and gilt eagles or dragons. Other specimens are found, especially 
of the type with the flat lid, with a plain plinth or bracket foot without the 
stand. ‘The majority of these chests are found in the Oriental lacquer, and 
not in the English “ japan.” 

A number of spurious examples decorated with incised lacquer have 
been made by the imitator, usually mounted on gilt stands, of a design with 
cabriole legs, sometimes elaborately decorated with masks. Many genuine 


* To detect a modern stand to an old lacquer chest a comparison should be made of the 
drawers in the stand with the drawers in the chest. If the stand is genuine, the construction, 
dovetailing and the wood used for its drawer linings will be identical with those of the chest. In a 
spurious stand the drawers might be made of pine, with dovetailing of the later type, whereas 
the drawers of the chest might be of oak with the dovetails extending to the front of the drawer. 


168 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


chests have also been mounted on new stands, and the stands, therefore, 
should always receive careful examination from the collector. 

The modern’ incised lacquer chest has a very different appearance to 
the genuine example, being nearly always too bright and new looking. The 
old examples are, unfortunately, too often in bad repair; and, on those 
with the raised-pattern Oriental lacquer, the colours are very much sunk 
in, and the gilding is worn away. | 


DRESSING- TABLES 


A number of pedestal dressing-tables of large size, measuring about 
4 feet in width, similar to the example illustrated, Plate XXXVI (6), 
have survived, decorated either in the Oriental or the English ‘ japan ” 
lacquer. The survival of such large examples in lacquer is all the more 
remarkable in view of the fact that large walnut dressing-tables of this size, 
as already commented upon, are practically unknown. These large dressing- 
tables cannot be considered as writing-tables, for they invariably have the 
decorated top, and not one covered with velvet or leather, as they would 
undoubtedly have if made for writing purposes. 

The smaller pedestal dressing-table, similar to the example illustrated 
in walnut, Plate XXXIV (a), is known in both English and Oriental lacquer ; 
and lacquer examples of the other dressing-table on legs have also survived. 
All these three types of tables are to-day of great rarity, and although a 
large number must have been made originally, few have been able to sustain 
the two centuries of wear and tear. 


THE SECRETAIRE WITH FALL-DOWN FRONT 


This piece in lacquer is not unknown to-day, although the majority 
of the existing examples are decorated with the English and not the Oriental 
variety. 

As already stated, a number of spurious examples of this piece have 
been made by the imitator, and a lacquered specimen, therefore, should 
always be closely examined before an, opinion as to its authenticity is 
arrived at. 


MIRRORS AND 'TOILET-GLASSES 


The decoration of the frames of wall mirrors with the English japan 
must have been much in vogue during the reigns of William and Mary 
and Queen Anne, as a number have survived. The early mirror, with heavy 
moulded frame, is not unknown to-day in lacquer; but the majority of 


LACQUER FURNITURE 169 


existing examples are of the narrow, vertical type, with half-round moulded 
frame, surmounted by a hood. Unfortunately, many of these mirrors are 
in bad condition, with the hoods missing, and the frames are often badly 
worm-eaten. ‘The majority of the lacquer mirrors will be found with the 
black ground, although examples with a red ground are not unknown, and in 
other colours they are extremely rare. 

The lacquer mirror has received considerable attention from the 
imitator as he has lacquered many old mirror frames in walnut and mahogany. 
He has sometimes committed the error of lacquering genuine mirrors, 
sometimes of mahogany, that are too late in date to be found decorated in 
this manner. The notes concerning the genuine mirror plate on page 135 
also apply to mirrors with lacquer frames. 

The toilet glass is another piece to be found decorated with English 
“japan” lacquer; and unlike the other pieces of lacquered furniture a 
number of genuine specimens have survived with the rare red ground. Many 
of these toilet glasses will be found with the mirror and side supports restored, 
and only the base-with-drawers original. Unfortunately, the majority of 
existing examples are in poor condition with the lacquer damaged or dis- 
figured. 

The imitator has not been behindhand in supplying lacquer toilet- 
glasses, made from the large quantity of plain mahogany examples surviving. 
In examining these glasses it should not be forgotten by the collector that 
a lacquered mahogany example can generally be recognized, if one of the 
drawers in the base is taken out, as many of these mirrors were made in 
solid mahogany, and in consequence, the sides will be formed of this 
wood. The backs of the drawer fronts will usually be of mahogany also. 


CORNER CUPBOARDS 


The tall lacquer corner-cupboard, similar to the walnut examples, 
invariably has solid and not glazed doors. This piece with the latter doors 
is of a spurious character, being the late eighteenth-century mahogany or 
oak corner-cupboard converted into a lacquer specimen. 

The hanging corner-cupboard with convex doors and decorated with 
lacquer has survived in considerable numbers. ‘This was a piece that, like 
the long-case clock, continued to be made in lacquer in the country districts 
long after the early eighteenth-century lacquer had gone out of vogue. 
Such corner-cupboards, unless decorated with red lacquer, or possessing 
some other interesting feature, are not of great value, to-day, owing to the 
difficulty of hanging them in a modern room. A number of contemporary 
Dutch lacquer examples will also be met with in England, but these can be 


170 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


PLATE XL 


(5) A bracket clock in case decorated with English green and gold lacquer 
with musical movement by Simon de Charmes, London, circa 1725. 
In the collection of Sir William Plender, G.B.E. 


(a) A bracket clock in case, overlaid with burr walnut veneer ; movement by 
William Webster, Exchange Alley, London, circa 1730. In the collec- 
tion of Sir John Prestige. 


PAL ANI, QU 


ae 


Pee ee 


wt mi il 


Se eR 


Fab Fer BY 


aaa 


» 


intinn o> 


<a 


ope ae 


aT STR, 


V 


LACQUER FURNITURE I7I 


recognized by the coarseness of the lacquer and the poor drawing of the 
design. A number of spurious examples made by lacquering old oak or 
mahogany specimens are also to be found. 


LONG-CASE, BRACKET, AND WALL CLOCKS 


The case of the long-case clock has already been mentioned as a very 
favourite article to be treated with lacquer decoration. The earliest examples 
date from the beginning of William and Mary’s reign, and these lacquer 
cases, as previously noted, continued to be made throughout the eighteenth 
century. Examples of these clock-cases with green and blue lacquer, 
unlike the other lacquer furniture, are often found; and, like the toilet- 
glass, a number have survived with the red ground. A few examples 
have also survived with the rare yellow ground; and these, perhaps, are 
the only genuine pieces extant with this rare colour. 

The bracket clock was another favoured article for decoration with 
lacquer, and examples with the black and green grounds are not uncommon, 
and the red lacquer is also fairly common on the cases of these clocks. 
Bracket clock-cases, unlike the long clock-cases, do not appear to have been 
made in lacquer later than about 1750. 

Lacquer as a decoration for wall clocks was also much in vogue, although 
it is generally of poor quality compared with the lacquer found on the 
furniture ; and in some cases the decoration consists only of gold lines, 
without any design of figures or landscapes. ‘These wall clocks are usually 
found with the black and not the coloured grounds. ‘The least valuable 
examples are those with circular dials, but rare specimens that are more 
sought after have octagonal or arched dials. 

A very large number of genuine oak or walnut long clock-cases have 
been converted into lacquer examples by the imitator; in fact, he has 
lacquered so many plain cases within recent years that the genuine lacquer 
examples form but a small fraction of the lacquered cases in existence. 

The black, pearwood-case bracket clock is also a very favourite piece 
for this treatment, as owing to its black case, it is not a very saleable type ; 
and the imitator has been able, therefore, to buy examples at a low price 
for conversion into lacquer specimens. 


tt 


IN DEX 


Arabesque marquetry, 89, 90, 91, 93, 95 
Armchairs : walnut, 65, 123, 127; winged, 67, 69, 
73, 123, 127 


Barbers’ chairs, walnut, 123 

Basket top clocks, 113 

Bedroom furniture, walnut, 21, 22 

Bedsteads, 85, 86, 145, 146 

Beech furniture: (painted) chairs, 64, 67, 68, 69, 
73, 74; daybeds, 69; gilt enrichments on, 69; 
spurious, 73, 74; stools, 67, 68, 60, 73, 74; 
tables, 69 ; (stained and polished), 69, 70 

Bellows, marquetry, 116 

Bess of Hardwick, 60 

Bombé front, the Dutch, 105 

Bookcases, Bureau, see Bureau; marquetry, 103 ; 
walnut, 21, 29, 81, 82, 137 

Boule, André, 89 

Boxwood inlaid lines, 26 

Bracket clock cases: ebony, ebonised, tortoise- 
shell, walnut, 113; lacquer, 171 

Bureau-bookcases : lacquer, 151, 163 ; marquetry, 
fos" walnut, 21, 22, 23, 3°, 37, 79, 120,..1%33, 
135, 136 

Bureaux : lacquer, 155, 163 ; marquetry, 54, 105; 
walnut, 21, 22, 23, 120, 131, 133, 135, 136 

Bureaux-on-drawers, walnut, 79, 80 

Bureaux-on-legs: marquetry, 103, 105; walnut, 
79 

Bureaux-on-stands, walnut, 23, 79, 136, 137 

Burr walnut, 26, 29 


Cabinets : China, see China ; marquetry, 102, 103 ; 
walnut, 43, 63, 80, 81, 137; walnut, writing, 79 

Cabinets-on-stands: lacquer, 147, 151, 157, 158, 
159, 161, 163; marquetry, 102, 103; walnut, 
21, 26, 29, 37 

Cabriole leg, the, see Legs - 

Candlestands, walnut tripod, 143 

Carcases for lacquer furniture, 149, I51 

Carcases for veneered walnut furniture, 29, 30, 37 

Card tables: lacquer, 165; marquetry, 101 ; 
walnut, 54, 77, 130, 131 

Carved decoration on walnut furniture, 33, 34, 42, 
50, 51, 54 

Chairs: beech, painted, 64, 67, 68, 69, 73, 74; 
elm, 67; lacquer, 163, 165; marquetry, 98, 99; 


173 


walnut, 21, 33, 34, 43, 51, 54, 63, 64, 65, 70, 71, 
73, 74, 75, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 127; walnut 
barbers’, 123; walnut, foreign, 75; walnut, 
writing, 123; walnut, upholstered, 65, 67, 71, 
73, 74, 75, 121, 123, 124, 125 ‘ 

Chair-back settees, walnut, 121 

Chess or draught boards, marquetry, 116 

Chestnut stools, 67 

Chests, lacquer, 151, 167, 168 

Chests-on-stands : lacquer, 165, 167 ; marquetry, 
105, 106; walnut, 21, 82, 139, 141 

Chests-with-drawers: lacquer, 165, 167; mar- 
quetry, 63, 105, 106; walnut, 21, 22, 23, 26, 42, 
63, 82, 120, 139, 141 

Cheval glass, 53 

China cabinets : marquetry, 103; walnut, 21, 43, 
53, 54, 82 

Claw and ball foot, 119 

Clement, William, clockmaker, 109 

Clock movements: bracket, 113; long-case, 109, 110 

Clock cases: basket-top, 113; bracket: ebony, 
ebonised, tortoiseshell, walnut, 113; lacquer, 
171: long-case: ebony, 106, 110; lacquer, 151, 
17I; Marquetry, 106, 107, I10, 111; walnut, 
21, 22, 26, 43, 120 

Clocks, wall, lacquer, 171 

Club-foot, the, 119 

Colour of old marquetry, 94, 104; 
marquetry, 97, 98 

Colours of lacquer backgrounds, 152 

Corner cupboards : lacquer, 169, 171 ; marquetry, 
139; walnut, 139 

Coromandel screens, lacquer, 147, 152, 157, 161 

Couches, walnut upholstered-back, 33, 68, 74, 121, 
123, 125, 127 

Coverings, needlework, 121, 124, 125 

Cracks on lacquer, 149, 155 ; Marquetry, 98, Io1 

Cross-banded walnut mouldings, 22, 37, 46, 47 

Cupboards, corner: lacquer, 169, 171; walnut, 
139 


spurious 


Daybeds: beech, 69; walnut, 67, 68, 70, 73 

Dovetailing, English and Dutch forms of, 26, 30, 31 

Draught or chess boards : marquetry, 116 

Drawer : fronts, mouldings or beads on or around, 
31, 33; handles, 34, 35; linings, 29, 30, 37, 43, 
45; runners, 30, 47, 49 


174 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT 


Dressing-tables : lacquer, 168; marquetry, 116; 
walnut, 120, 141, 142; walnut pedestal, 21, 22, 23 

Dutch and English forms of dovetailing, 26, 30, 31 

Dutch and English furniture, similarity of, 24 

Dutch and English locks, 35 

Dutch centre hinge, the, 37 

Dutch influence on English furniture, 24, 25, 26, 
60, 87, 89 

Dutch lacquer corner-cupboards, 169, 171 

Dutch marquetry, 89, 93, 94, 103, 106; bureaux- 
on-drawers, 105; chairs, 99; tables, 1o1 

Dutch needlework, 124, 143 

Dutch walnut chairs, 75; china cabinets, 103 ; 
corner-cupboards, 139 


Eagle-head decoration, 120, 124, 125 

East, Edward, clockmaker, 109 

Ebony and ebonized bracket clock-cases, 113; 
long clock-cases, 106, 110 

Elizabethan: marquetry, 87; ‘‘ walnut-tree’”’ 
furniture, 57, 59, 60 

Elm: chairs, 67; oblong tables, 76; stools, 67 

“Endive ”’ marquetry, 89 

Escallop shell ornament, 112, 119 


“ Faked ” furniture, see Spurious 

Feet to the cabriole leg, 119 

Fire-screens, walnut, 143, 145 

Floral marquetry, 89, 90, 91, 93, 95 

Foreign walnut furniture, 23, 24, 75, 97, IOI, 103, 
105, 139, 169, 171 

Frames, mirror, see Mirror 

French influence in English furniture, 60 

French polish, destruction of patina by, I9, 20 

French walnut chairs, 75 

Fromanteel, John, clockmaker, 107, 109 

Fruit-wood oblong tables, 76 

Furniture ; lacquer, see Lacquer; marquetry, see 
Marquetry ; walnut, see Walnut 


Gate-legged tables: lacquer, 165; oak, 22; 
walnut, 22, 77, 129 

Gibbon, Grinling, carver, 25 

Gilding: cracks on genuine, 49 ; on lacquer 
furniture, 152, 153, 155 

Gilt enrichments on beech furniture, 69; walnut 
furniture, 27, 29, 49, 50, 54 

Gilt mirror frames, 115 

Glass mirror frames, 115 

Glasses : cheval, 53; lacquer toilet, 169 

Graham, George, clockmaker, 109 
Grandfather ”’ clocks, 21, 22, 26, 106, 107, 109, 
110, TZ¥, 17t 

‘‘ Grandmother ”’ clocks, I11 


Hampton Court Palace, 25, 61, 67, 85 
Hardwick Hall, 60 


& LACQUER FURNITURE 


Hatfield House, 59 

Herringbone inlay, 27 

Hinges on walnut furniture, 35, 37 
Holly wood inlaid lines, 26 

Huguenot designers and craftsmen, 61 


Incised lacquer, 149, I5I, 152, 161, 163 

Inlay decoration on walnut furniture: spurious, 50, 
54; herringbone, 27; of holly and box-wood 
lines, 26 


Janivere, French or Flemish woodworker, 59 
“ Japan,” 147, 151 
Johnson, Gerreit, cabinet-maker, 25, 81 


Kensington Palace, 25, 61, 80 
Kingwood parquetry, 27 
Knibb, Joseph, 109 

Knole House, Kent, 67, 85 


Laburnum parquetry, 27 

Lace boxes, marquetry, 115 

Lacquer: backgrounds, colours of, 152; bureau- 
bookcases, 163; bureaux, 163; cabinets-on- 
stands, 147, I5I, 157, 158, 159, 161, 163; card 
tables, 165 ; chairs, 163 ; 165; chests, 151, 167, 
168; chests-on-stands, 165, 167; chests-with- 
drawers, 165, 167; clock cases (bracket, long 
and wall), 171; cracks on, 149, 155; dressing- 
tables, 168; English, 149; furniture, 147 

Lacquer furniture: carcases for, 149, 151; gild- 
ing on, 152, 153, 155; Oriental, 147 

Lacquer: gate-legged tables, 165; incised, 149, 
151, 152, 161, 163; middle eighteenth century 
revival of, 152; mirror frames, 115, 168; 
Oriental, 149; pedestal dressing-tables, 168 ; 
raised decoration, 149, 152, 153, 155, 157} 
screens, coromandel, 147, 152, 157, 161; secre- 
taires, 168; spurious, 153, 155, 156; tables, 
oblong, 165; toilet glasses, 169; wainscotting, 
149 

Lacquering on veneer, 149 

Legs: cabriole, 44 (a and b), 65, 119; scroll, 76; 
spiral-twist, 28 (a), 64, 74; tapered, 77, 84; 
turned baluster, 32c, 64 ; turned cupped, 36c, 64 

Le Pautre, French designer, 61 

“ Le style vefugié,’’ 61, 157 

Lignum vite parquetry, 27 

Lion mask decoration, 119, 124, 125; paw-foot, 
119, 120 

Lock plates on walnut furniture, 34, 35 

Locks on walnut furniture, 35 

Long clock-cases : lacquer, 151, 171; marquetry, 
106, 107, I10, 111; walnut, 43, 120 

Love seats, walnut, I21, 127 

Louis-Quatorze school of design, 61, 80 


INDEX 175 


Machine tool marks on spurious walnut furniture, 
51, 53 

Marble topped tables, 129 

Marot, Daniel, designer, 61, 63, 65, 67, 85, 89, 106 

Marquetry : arabesque, 89, 90, 91, 93, 95 ;_ bellows, 
116; bureau-bookcases, 105 ; bureaux, 54, 105; 
bureaux-on-legs, 103, 105; cabinets, 102, 103; 
card tables, 54, 101; chairs, 98, 99; clock- 
cases: bracket, 113; long, 106, 107, I10, 111; 
cutting, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95; chess and 


draught boards, 116; chests-on-stands, 105, 


106; chests-with-drawers, 63, 105, 106; china 
cabinets, 103 ; colour of old, 94, 102 ; spurious, 
97, 98; dressing tables, 116; Elizabethan, 87 ; 
“endive,” 89; floral, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95; 
furniture, spurious, 94, 95,97; lace boxes, 115; 
mirror frames, 115; ‘‘ Persian,” 89, 111; 
quality of old, 93, 94; seaweed, 89, 90, 9I, 93, 
95; secretaires, 103, 105; shading effects in, 
93; Spurious, on walnut furniture, 50, 54; 
veneer, 87; woods used for, 90; writing tables, 
54 

Mask decoration, lion, 124, 125 

Mirror frames: glass, 115; lacquer, 115, 168; 
Marquetry, 115; walnut, 115, 145, 146 

Mirror plates, Vauxhall, 115, 135 

Molesey, palace of, 59 

Mouldings: crossbanded walnut, 27, 37, 46, 47; 
or beads on or around drawer fronts, 31, 33 

Mounts on: lacquer furniture, 151, 160; walnut 
furniture, 19, 34, 35, 37, 50 

Movements, clock: bracket, 113; long-case, 109, 
IIo 


Nantes, Revocation of the Edict of, 61 
Needlework: coverings, 121, 124, 125; hangings 
for beds, 85; panels for fire-screens, 143, 145 

Nonsuch, Palace of, 59 


Oak: carcases for veneered furniture, 29, 30, 37; 
drawer linings, 29, 30, 37; gate-legged tables, 22 

Olive wood parquetry, 27 

Oriental lacquer, 149 

Overmantel mirrors, walnut, 145, 146 

Oyster-shell parquetry, 26, 27, 63 


Paint, use of on spurious walnut furniture, 43, 54 

Painted beech furniture, 64, 68, 69, 70, 73, 74 

Parquetry, 26, 27, 63 

Patina, 18, 19, 20, 21, 41, 42, 63, 45, 46, 55, 74 

Pedestal dressing-tables: lacquer, 168; walnut, 
ai. 23; 23 

Pedestal writing-tables, walnut kneechole, 136, 137 

“ Persian ’’ marquetry, 89, 111 

Pied de biche foot, 44b, 119 

Plates, mirror, 115, 135 


Pole screens, walnut tripod, 145 
Polish, French, destruction of patina’by, 19, 20 


Quality in walnut furniture, 23, 29 
Quare, Daniel, clockmaker, tog 
“ Quartering ” in walnut veneer, 26, 29 


Raised decoration, lacquer, 149, 152, 153, 155, 157 
Runners to drawers, 30 


Screens: coromandel lacquer, 147, 152, 157, 161 
walnut cheval fire, 143, 145; tripod pole, 145 

Seats : long walnut, 67; love, walnut, 121, 127 

Seaweed marquetry, 89, 90, 91, 93, 95 

Secretaires : lacquer, 168; marquetry, 103, 105 
walnut, 79, 136 

Settees, walnut, 43, 54, 121, 123, 124, 125 

Shading effects in marquetry, 93 

Sheen, Palace of, 59 

Shrinkage, effects of in genuine and spurious 
walnut furniture, 37, 46, 47 

Spade foot, the, 96d, 119 

Spiral-twist turning, English and Dutch, 74 

Spurious clock-cases: bracket, 113, 171; long, 
S20, 235. 571 

Spurious furniture : danger of, to the collector, 39, 
41; definition of, 38; detection of, 55, 56; 
methods of making, 41 

Spurious inlay decoration on walnut furniture, 50, 
54 

Spurious lacquer, 153, 155, 156; bureau-book- 
cases, 163; bureaux, 163; cabinets, 158, 1590, 
161, 163 ; card tables, 165 ; chairs, 165; chests, 
167, 168; chests-on-stands, 165, 167; chests- 
with-drawers, 165, 167; clock-cases (bracket, 
long and wall), 171; corner-cupboards, 171 ; 
gate-legged tables, 165; mirror frames, 169; 
secretaires, 168; tripod tables, 165; toilet 
glasses, 169 

Spurious marquetry, 94, 95, 97, 98; bookcases, 
103 ; bureau-bookcases, 105 ; bureaux, 54, 105; 
cabinets, 103; card tables, 1o1; chairs, 99; 
chests-on-stands, 105 ; chests-with-drawers, 106; 
china cabinets, 103; clock-cases: bracket, 113; 
long, I10, III, 113}; decoration on walnut 
furniture, 50, 54; furniture, 94, 95, 97; mirror 
frames, 115; secretaires, 103, 105; tables, 99, 
IOI 

Spurious: mounts on walnut furniture, 50, 
needlework, 124, 125; stands, gilt or silvered, 
for lacquer cabinets, 159; walnut: armchairs; 
127; bureau-bookcases, 135, 136; bureaux, 
135, 136; bureaux-on-legs, 79; bureaux-on- 
stands, 79; cabinets, 137; chairs, 51, 54, 71, 
73, 74, 75, 125, 127; china cabinets, 43, 53, 54, 


176 OLD ENGLISH WALNUT & LACQUER FURNITURE 


82; dressing-tables, 142; furniture, 38 ; furni- 
ture: drawer linings in, 43, 45; runners in, 47, 
49; gilt enrichments on, 49, 50, 54; machine 
tool marks on, 51, 53; mounts on, 50; shrink- 
age tests for, 46, 47; walnut: love seats, 127; 
mirror frames, 145, 146; settees, 54, 125; 
stools, 125; tripod tables, 145; upholstered 
chairs, 125, 127; stools, 125 

Square: club-foot, 119, 150; moulded foot, 96 (a), 
119 

Stands: gilt or silvered carved, for cabinets, 157, 
158, 159 

Stools: beech, painted, 67, 68, 69, 73, 74; chest- 
nut, 67; elm, 67; walnut, 33, 67, 70, 73, 74, 75, 
124, 125; walnut upholstered, 125 

“* Straight-cut ’’ walnut veneer, 26, 29 

Stretchers to leg furniture, discarding of, 117, 119 


Tables: beech, painted, 69; elm, oblong, 76; 
fruit-wood, oblong, 76; lacquer, 165 ; marquetry: 
card, 54, 101; Dutch, 101; oblong, 99, 101; 
writing, 54; oak: gate-legged, 22; oblong, 76; 
walnut, 19, 21, 22, 26, 37, 43, 75, 76; walnut: 
card, 77, 130, 131; dressing, 120; folding top, 
77; gate-legged, 22, 77; hinged leaf, 77; 
marble-topped, 129; oblong, 75, 76, 129; 
writing, 79, 80, 136, 137 

Tallboys, walnut, 21, 22, 120, 141 

Toilet glasses, lacquer, 169 

Tompion, Thomas, clockmaker, 107, 109 

Tool marks, machine, on spurious walnut furni- 
ture, 51, 53 ; 

Tripod walnut: candlestands, 143; pole 
Screens, 145; stands, 83, 84; tables, 142, 143 


Upholstered: bedsteads, 85, 86, 146; walnut: 
couches, 68, 74, I2I, 123, 125, 127; chairs, 121, 
123, 124, 125; stools, 125 


Varnish on old walnut furniture, 19 

Vauxhall mirror plates, 115 

Veneer: lacquering on, 149; marquetry, 87; 
oyster-shell, 26, 27, 63; walnut, 26; walnut: 
quartering of, 26, 29; ‘‘ straight-cut,’’ 26, 29; 
thickness of, 26, 53 


Wainscotting, lacquered, 149 

Wall clock-cases, lacquer, 171 

Walnut : armchairs, 65, 67, 73, 123, 127; barbers’ 
chairs, 123; bookcases, 21, 29, 81, 82, 137; 
bureau-bookcases, 21, 22, 23, 30, 37, 120, 133, 
135, 136;. bureaux, 21, 22, 23, 120, 131, 133, 
135, 136, bureaux-on-stands, 23, 136, 137; 
bureaux-with-drawers, 79, 80, 131, 133; burr, 


26, 29; Cabinets, 43, 63, 80, 81, 137; cabinets- 
on-drawers, 137; cabinets-on-stands, 21, 26, 
29, 37; card tables, 77, 130, 131; chair-back 
settées, 127, 123 } ‘chairs, 21, 33, 34, 43, Sia 
63, 64, 65, 79, 71, 73, 74, 75, 120, 121, 123, 124, 
125,127; chairs: foreign, 75; upholstered, 65, 
67, 71, 73, 74, 75, 121, 123, 124, 125; chests-on- 
stands, 21, 82, 139, 141; chests-with-drawers, 
21, 22, 23, 26, 42, 63, 82, 120, 130, 141 ; cheval 
fire screens, 143, 145; china cabinets, 21, 43, 
53, 54, 82, 137; clock-cases: long, 43, 106, 120; 
bracket, 113: corner-cupboards, 139; couches, 
33, 68, 74, 121, 125, 127; cross-banded mould- 
ings, 46, 47; daybeds, 67, 68, 70, 73; dressing- 
tables, 21, 22, 23, 120, I41, 142; furniture: 
decoration of, by carving, 33, 34; drawer 
handles on, 34, 35 ; drawer linings in, 29, 30, 37; 
drawers in, 29, 30, 37; Elizabethan, 57, 59, 60; 
foreign, 23, 24; gilt enrichments on, 27, 29; 
hinges on, 35, 37; lock plates on, 34, 35; locks 
on, 35; mounts on, 34, 35, 37; popularity of. 
17; qualities of, 17, 23, 29; quantity of surviv- 
ing, 18; shrinkage effects in, 37; solid, 31, 33; 
spurious, 38: spurious: drawer linings in, 43, 
45; drawer runners in, 47, 49; gilt enrichments 
on, 49, 50, 54; inlay decoration, 50, 54; 
machine tool marks on, 51, 53; marquetry 
decoration, 50, 54; mounts on, 50; shrinkage 
tests for, 46, 47: gate-legged tables, 129; 
“‘ grandfather ’’ clocks, 21, 22, +26,, 106;% 
“‘ grandmother ’’ clocks, 111 ; kneehole pedestal 
writing-tables, 136, 137; long-case clocks, 43, 
106, 120; love seats, 121, 127; mirror frames, 
II5, 145, 146; oval dining-tables, 22; pedestal 
dressing-tables, 21, 22, 23; period bedsteads, 
85, 86, 146; secretaires, 79, 136; settees, 43, 
54, 123, 124, 125; stools, 33, 67, 70, 73, 74, 75, 
124, 125; tables, 21, 22, 26, 397,43, 75,90) 77s 
1290, 142, 143; tallboys, 21, @2;cis0, seer" 
tripod: candlestands, 143; pole screens, 145} 
stands, 83, 84; tables, 142, 143; upholstered : 
chairs, 65, 67, 71,.74, 75, 121, 422, keane 
couches, 65, 68, 73, 74, 121, 125, 127 ; stools, 
67, 74,125; walnut veneer, see Veneer; writing- 
chairs, 123 

Wanstead House, Essex, sale of furniture at, 18 

Winged armchairs, 67, 69, 73, 123, 127 

Worm-eaten furniture, 73 

Woods used for marquetry, 90 

Wren, Sir Christopher, 61 

Writing : cabinets, marquetry, 102, 103 ; walnut, 
79: chairs, walnut, 123: tables, marquetry, 54 ; 
walnut, 136, 137 


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